This is one of the most petty royal stories I’ve read in a long time, and I’m including those stupid “Mean Meghan Made Kate Cry!” stories. The weird thing about this story is that it comes from Dan Wootten at the Sun, and Wooten gets some good scoops and he has some good sources. My point is not that “Wootten got some scandalous scoop, which is 100% authentic.” My point is that someone absolutely spoon-fed him this story. It has the same vibe as the now months-long smear campaign against the Duchess of Sussex, the vibe that stuffy, parochial, petty and racist royal courtiers can’t help but constantly “put Meghan in her place.” The emphasis, over and over again, that Meghan is not as “good” as Kate, that Meghan is too American, too Hollywood, too… black. Apparently, the Queen is so disgusted with Meghan in the final days of Meghan’s first pregnancy that the Queen has refused to allow Meghan to wear any iconic pieces of jewelry from the Royal Collection.
The Queen has banned Meghan from wearing jewellery made famous by Princess Diana. The move has escalated tensions between the Duchess and senior royals — and upset Harry. The Queen made Prince William personally aware of her decision to ban Meghan from wearing jewellery from the Royal Collection — sparking further tensions between him and brother Harry.
Last night our impeccably placed royal insider revealed: “This is a surprising situation that has been going on behind the scenes over the past few months and has caused tension and upset, especially for Harry. It is at the discretion of the Queen and trusted advisers which items in the Royal Collection she chooses to loan out and to whom. Aspects of Meghan’s behaviour, including before the Royal Wedding, caused resentment with forces within Buckingham Palace.
“To be perfectly honest, the Queen herself was not impressed with some of Meghan’s demands, especially as a new member of the family. As a result, Buckingham Palace has decided that not all items from the Queen’s royal collection will be opened up to Meghan. As part of that situation, the Queen informed Prince William that the items from the Royal Collection worn by Princess Diana would not immediately be made available to Meghan.”
The senior source added: “The Queen likes Meghan personally but this is about the hierarchy. She is showing that maintaining the correct order and precedence within the family is important. Even if Meghan is the most popular woman in the world, she is of a lower rank than Kate.”
Another senior royal insider explained: “It is true that Buckingham Palace did not want all the items in the Royal Collection to be opened up to Meghan at this time. Obviously Kate as the next Princess of Wales and a senior member of the family does have them made available to her. That’s not to say items won’t be loaned to Meghan in the future if situations change.”
To be clear, Diana owned many personal pieces of jewelry which were gifted to her by friends, family and Charles, and after her passing, Harry and William reportedly split up her personal jewelry collection. The aquamarine ring which Meghan wore at her wedding reception (and has worn other times) was a private piece of Diana’s jewelry which Harry gave Meghan. There are private pieces which William has given Kate too. But the Queen is in charge of the Royal Collection jewelry, the tiaras and big necklaces and big diamond earrings and the like. And considering the Sun’s sourcing on this, I suspect it’s probably true and the Queen has cut Meghan off from the Royal Collection jewels. As some kind of punishment. Imagine being this bitchy and trying to score these kinds of PR points in the final days of a woman’s first pregnancy. “Oh you’re about to give birth? Well you still suck and you’ll never get to wear a tiara ever again, bitch.”
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
Are we calling the queen petty…? Cos if we think it’s possibly true, I’m sure the queen had a fairly decent reason for doing so.
I agree, I don’t think the Queen is being petty. She is more likely trying to keep everything respectful. She has always had to tread a fine line between modernisation and tradition. The monarchy are very much about history and tradition. They’ve also always been seen as being above celebrity but Meghan and Harry seem to be all about that life.
While I don’t suppose the Queen is being petty and bitchy at all, I think the reporting of the story is very much that.
“They’ve also always been above celebrity and Harry and Meghan are all about that”
Lmfaooooooookoo give me a god damn break.
Partying with Mick Jagger on a private island in the Caribbean isn’t being a celebrity at all guys. It’s royal.
Sure, Jan. Harry and Meghan are all about that life. That’s why Harry currently has more engagements so far this year (55) than both William and Kate. And Meghan has more than Kate at the time she went on mat leave. And Harry and Meghan’s tour had more engagements overall than the Cambridges first tour. Sure.
+100%. Well said.
‘Even if Meghan is the most popular woman in the world…’ – Hardly.
I totally agree with you.
Totally agree, i think theres probably a nugget of truth and that truth is probably entrenched in protocol or tradition. Not saying its 100% right but thats how the RF is. The reporting is awful, but, again this is the British tabloids, they have always been the same and will never changed. No offence intended at all here but I think a lot of Americans are suddenly becoming aware of the British tabloids and how they operate, but it has aways been thus. They treated Diana ABOMINABLY (especially when she didn’t play ball – and oh how she played), i’m old enough to remember, and lets not get started on Fergie – why do you think she moved to the States? For Meghans part, obviously there is a nasty undercurrent of racism here but in general, being American, she would have probably gotten a really rough time anyway AND an ex actress AND an admitted feminist, the tabs can’t cope with all that – they have decided to try to bring her down. It’s not right, but it’s not new either. Most of the intelligent British people ignore it all. We know that most of it is crap, but we pay for them so we get to enjoy the Dynasty-like storylines. Also, these types of gossip sites are getting 450+ comments on stories though – everyone gets paid 😉
I call b.s on the whole story.
Meghan already has worn Diana’s ring and IMO this Story is just more of the same Meghan bashing.
Remember Nicole Cliffe last week said after the Turnip Toff, Rose, Kate, Prince William story, that suddenly again we would see all these Meghan bashing stories in drumbeats.
This is just a reworked version of the Tiara story.
It’s like groundhogs day with the British press when it comes to Meghan bashing articles. Yesterday it was back to The Baby Shower.
I call b.s. On the whole story.
To be fair, we have only seen Meghan wear jewels from Diana’s private collection. I don’t think we have seen her wear anything that Diana wore from the royal collection.
90sgirl, +1! I agree completely! It’s like the Turnip Toff story disappeared, and now we are back to talking about how terrible Meghan is.
And this story is really scraping the bottom of the barrel, IMHO. It’s not recent or relevant. WGAF?
The whole world is so excited for the birth of baby Sussex! This is a desperate attempt to shift the narrative.
I don’t think this was punishment. It seems like it was more: here are the guidelines for Meghan’s access to the royal jewels as a new Duchess-establishing a protocol and guideline for her. And now some courtiers are using these guidelines to claim she’s being punished, as opposed to just the structure that was established for her.
I don’t know about anyone else, but when I start a new position, I want to know every rule and guideline proactively to avoid making a mistake. Meghan (through Harry) probably asked the same questions, and was given guidelines and structure-it’s not a freaking punishment. 🙄
This is the pattern: a positive story about Meghan (Instagram record, online baby shower) is soon followed by a negative story. Thankfully, many in the public ate on to the smear campaign.
90s girl, you hit the nail on the head!! This absurd story is just more bs from the Cambridges attempting to distract people from turnip toff drama. After all, I can’t help but notice the numerous references to Kate being a senior royal, MORE senior than Meghan in case you forgot, and therefore it’s ok for her-serene-highness-who’s-NEVER-put-a foot-wrong-except-for-when-she-was-flashing-her-ass-to-the-whole-world-Kate to wear the royal collection. This story has William ALL OVER it.
Did Princess Anneget to wear the tiaras and necklaces in the 1970s? Wouldn’t that answer the protocol question? I remember the Queen and Queen Mother In those, but I don’t remember If Princess Anne did. Idos a was married to the future King, so sort of had to wear the jewelry as her job for the monarchy. I don’t think that Meghan cares one way or the other, but the courtiers sure do.
90sgirl, I raise your call of B.S. to the second power. Why all these stories about Meghan after the Turnip Toffs news put William and Kate in an unflattering light? Why would the Queen instruct William on what jewelry of Diana’s Megan is not to wear when he and Harry each have their own pieces of Diana’s jewelry for their wives to wear? Why throw in the unending mantra that Megan is not better than Kate and needs to learn her place? This smacks of Kensington Palace deflection to me.
And for Turnip’s sake, it is not Meghan’s fault if she is currently the popular Duchess.
If it’s true, it’s petty AF. And no, QE2 does not always have great judgment. This is the same woman who thought it would be NBD to sit in front of a solid gold piano and lecture the plebes about being cool with Brexit? Yeah. She’s got great judgment. Thank you, next.
This reminds me of the ‘blood princess rule’.
However, now “blood princesses” are given precedence over women who have married into the royal family. This rule only applies when the woman’s husband is present, otherwise she gets bumped on down the list.
The Queen makes things up all the time to suit her children or grandchildren.
The Queen also didn’t want to lower the flag to half-mast when Diana died. And there was some other petty stuff she did until her citizens went nuts and she had to change her mind when everyone was grieving for Diana. I got no love for Queen Elizabeth II because of that.
She wasn’t being petty about the flag, but she was being stubborn and traditional. The flag that flies over Buckingham Palace is the Royal Standard and it is only raised when the Queen is present. Back then, if she wasn’t present there was no flag at all. The Royal Standard is NEVER flown at half mast (it represents the crown, which is continuous. It won’t be flown at half mast even when the Queen dies). The Queen wasn’t present at Buckingham Palace (she was in Balmoral), so there was no flag at all. She eventually relented and allowed them to raise a Union jack at half mast during Diana’s funeral. Apparently the Union Jack is now flown regularly when the Queen isn’t present.
ProfPlum — I have to believe the piano was wooden with gold leaf applied, but you’re right — it was always reported as simply a “gold piano”. How heavy would a solid gold piano be?
The Queen would not make a point of letting William know that Meghan would not be allowed to wear the same pieces as Diana especially considering it’s Diana.
There is nothing in the Queen’s past behavior that would point to her doing something like this. She is above the fray and an ostrich to this kind of behavior.
But if the rumor is true that Angela Kelly was part of the smear campaign, then I can see a petty flexing of influence from her and then Harry and Meghan wanting to avoid an argument.
And this makes it sound like William asked for this to happen to elevate Kate’s image.
This makes Kate and William look so petty and small that I wonder if this story even came from them.
But Kate has a long track record of using jewellery to show connection with other members of the royal family and I can see this being important to her.
And William has a track record of asking for things inappropriately like with Apt 1A and keeping the RAF helicopter service in Anglesey. And there was a story of William going the Queen about questioning whether Harry should marry Meghan.
William sounds like a very controlling, inappropriate person.
Yep, Angela Kelly is where my mind always goes because there seems to be a disproportionate TON of “royal jewels/tiaras” stories about Meghan. And she is the keeper of the Queen’s jewels and wardrobe, and has been described as the closest person to the Queen. My random guess is that Meghan and or Harry peeved her off somehow before the wedding and she is on a rampage.
And I can see the Queen being reluctant to check her old friend who feels emboldened because William and possibly Andrew are supporting her behavior.
But at this point, the spitefullness is making its way to how the Queen’s behavior is publically characterized in the press and it is going to get worse if the Queen and Charles do not intervene.
All moderate discussion areas have called this story mean-spirited.
@Silas Marner agree, the Queen obviously relies on Angela Kelly a lot and they are very close per all reports. Heck she was even allowed to write a book about the Queen which is pretty unheard of for staff in good standing (the book Dressing the Queen).
I wonder if Angela, knowing the Queen is so elderly and can’t be around that much longer, is taking an extreme stand like this out of some twisted notion she is protecting the monarchy for the future, and out of dislike for Meghan (and Harry?). The line in the story about an impeccably placed royal source really stands out to me too, I would bet (a small amount of) money that the source is Angela.
I absolutely agree that, if even partly true, this is coming from Angela Kelly. I also agree that the tiara story emanated from her (with exaggerations!). It was also interesting to me that the hit-piece in Tatler gave credence to the notion that the pre-wedding tiara dispute involved the emerald and diamond tiara that Eugenie wore at her wedding. Angela Kelly would have been one of the very few people that knew exactly which tiaras were (initially?) offered for Meghan’s use.
Agreed with your thoughts. It also seems like it’s from William and Kate due to how explicitly and how many times it was said that Meghan isn’t “over” Kate. It comes across as telling her “her place.”
I call hogwash on the whole story, or like the other stories, there’s a kernel of truth that is very innocent, but has been twisted and over-blown. The good thing is that if you read the comments on many sites, the public is on to those smearing Meghan.
Yes, there is no way the Queen would act maliciously. This twisted information has been leaked by someone who bears ill towards the Sussexes and it comes as no coincidence that it comes just as their Instagram account is hitting 3 million followers just after two days of being launched, showing the growing strength of their worldwide popularity and putting the Cambridge’s further into the shade.
If it is true, then I am sure the Queen has her reasons. The monarchy has long standing traditions that they adhere to and for people to think that they will change everything for one person is ridiculous. William will be King and as such will always have a higher priority then Harry, like Charles over his other siblings. I think the Queen is not petty but is a supporter of the traditions and rules of the monarchy. I also think this is petty gossip which Meghan could care less about, she knew that Harry was the spare and thus would not be under the strict rules that a future King or Queen would have to adhere to.
I’ve seen other reports on this story and they’ve basically said only Kate and Camilla (other than the Queen) are able to wear the Royal Collection because they’re the next in line to the throne, so the reason that Beatrice, Meghan etc can’t wear this collection, is that they’re further down in the line of sucession. Which makes sense if this has always been the procedure but if it was just newly created to prevent Meghan from wearing the collection, then I agree with Kaiser’s interpretation.
Also, I think this announcement may be related to Meghan wanting to wear a tiara while on her visit to commonwealth countries and they want to stop Meghan from asking again. I understand their reasoning for saying no, but I hope that rule also applies to Kate.
I dunno… Diana was known to hate the CLK tiara because it gave her headaches and whatnot so cutting off the pieces she “made famous” doesn’t seem like a big deal. Watch Meghan roll out in a piece from the Collection soon just to tell everyone to shove it. Meghan and Harry are still wildly popular so I don’t think HM would make such a poor PR move with Polo Baby’s arrival being imminent. I could be wrong, though…
Also, in the BRF they rarely share tiaras, right? So once we saw Kate in the CLK tiara, and the lotus tiara – those were never going to be for Meghan.
The Queen essentially gives out lifetime loans, and no they don’t ‘share’ tiaras. The Queen also has a very clear hierarchy with her pieces – QE2 gets the massive pieces, then Camilla gets the next best. Kate is kind of in between, but is getting better pieces.
The funny part is, it’s not like Kate initially got unfettered access to the Royal Collection either. It took FOREVER for her to start wearing good jewelry, how many Kiki McD pieces did she wear in the meantime??
It’s truly a shame that the Queen is so restrictive about the Royal collection, unlike say the Swedes or the Dutch. There are so many pieces that we’ve never even seen.
Correct. Unlike some of the European royals the Brits don’t share tiaras. HM hands them out and that’s it. This is a big nothingburger.
We’ve often seen other royals wearing the same tiaras, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about. If you look at DM’s story on this, they have plenty of pictures of the women n the royal family sharing tiaras.
You mean the DM story someone linked in the comments? No, none of those women are sharing tiaras. Diana wore the CLK, now Kate wears it. Obviously no overlap. Queen Mary wore the bandeau, then Meghan wore it for the wedding. They did seem to misidentify a picture of Anne as being Margaret and wearing the Cartier halo from kate’s Wedding (in the 60s). But no pictures of current royals swapping tiaras.
Yep. This is a nothing article trying to put Meghan in her place. Of course certain jewels are reserved for the queen consorts. Also if a certain piece is well established with a current working royal than Meghan can’t use it. It’s all understandable. But the editorializing is very shady.
These reporters love to blow up certain standards into a negative for Meghan and Harry.
I always pay attention to how the narrative in these stories are carried out. Usually it’s Harry has a fit of demands or Meghan is a devious diva pushing in. They want the public to think of these two as the second coming of Andrew and Fergie.
Of course. There can’t be a light without a dark. For the press it’s Will and the English Rose (spare me) vs the pushy, cunning ginger and his half-breed American bride. It’s disgusting. They have all established their own reputations pretty clearly through actions despite what the press has tried to do, if anyone has actually paid attention.
Meghan hasn’t done anything to be cut off. All these accusations are very vague, so vague as to be non-existent.
IF these basic facts are true (the Queen has limited Meghan’s access to royal jewels), then the only way I give the queen a pass here is if this is standard for those not married to the future king (i.e., if Sophie has the same access Meghan has, or if Sophie has access to a similar “set” of jewels in the royal vault in terms of importance, prominence, etc) then this sounds less about slapping down Meghan and more about just keeping in place a hierarchy for what the royal women wear.
but if that’s not the case, and these limitations are specifically placed on Meghan, then wow.
what “behavior” before the wedding would have caused this reaction? What behavior AFTER the wedding? You send the woman on an international visit at 36ish weeks pregnant and then you’re going to say, “sorry, these jewels aren’t for you”?
I’m also disgusted at the way this story makes it sound like Meghan has been greedy for all the diamonds. It ties right into the tiara story from earlier this week, the wedding tiara story, etc.
My guess is with these things there is a grain of truth (Meghan asked about wearing a tiara in Fiji, was told it wasn’t an appropriate occasion, no harm no foul) but the spin on these stories is pretty disgusting.
Becks – I think this has to do with the cost of her clothing and the optics of that, tbh. The sun, DM etc have been foaming at the mouth about it, whipping up their readers about the overspending Duchess. Incidentally red top readers are also one of the demographics that ardently support the monarchy. I very much feel this whole thing is designed to keep them ‘on side’. I mean I personally am a bit of a republican (not in the American way lol), but Meghan is probably my favourite royal – even so, I find the insane cost of clothing extremely offensive and upsetting – same for Kate etc, before someone comes at me calling me racist.
The optics of Meghan’s spending have not been good. She seems to not give a toss (let’s me honest) how it looks. They are trying to keep her in line. It’s mean, but plausible.
You mean the courtiers are leaking these kinds of stories to keep Meghan in line? I can buy that, but it’s still disgusting.
The cost of clothing for all royals is insane. The Queen and Kate are just smarter about it because people don’t know how much their clothes actually cost for the most part (and the queen is, well, the queen.) I know you said you find the costs for Kate upsetting as well, so that’s not specifically directed at you, I just cant believe the Queen said “well, your bespoke pieces cost a bit much, so no jewels for you.”
The British racist press coverage of Meghan , these stories of jewels and costs of things I take with a grain of salt and call b.s. On most of those stories,
The Brtish press are basically bullying a pregnant woman, a woman of color who is intelligent, well spoken, earned millions through her own hard work before marriage into the royal family , because she is awesome in so many ways and they want to bring her down, diminish her.
Meghan is having Harry’s little one in a few days, weeks and a woman of color is a member of the Royal Family and not going anywhere and the the British press can’t stand it, they are still bashing this pregnant woman, day in and day out, like a sick sport. It’s sick and sad.
I don’t believe this story, Meghan has worn a number of pieces previously owned by Diana. But, considering Meghan’s style I cannot see her wearing those huge diamonds. I took the tiara story with a huge grain of salt, after all Meghan’s style is modern with very sleek lines. I can’t envision her wearing a huge heavy tiara that would have taken away the focus from her or the dress. The royal jewelry collection is stunning but the pieces are overwhelming and a tad old fashioned. The Queen and then Camilla who will be on the throne before Kate, have access due to their standing. Meghan is third level royalty despite being the most popular royal. So once again they are spinning stories to once again portray Meghan as a clueless wannabe who doesn’t know her ranking or station in the royal family.
@Becks1:
Kate gets the same questioning about her clothing spending as well, but Meghan *does* outspend her. Fashion watchers are able to piece together what items cost by looking at current collections etc, though it gets challenging when a lot of the pieces are custom. Kate has a huge clothing budget, even in comparison to the other continental royals (the other notoriously big spender: Rania of Jordan), and Meghan has shown a taste for luxury fashion. I sincerely hope that she will learn a lesson from this and steer away from it.
I think part of what @Clare said is probably true – that Meghan’s spending has looked terrible and this could be part of an attempt to fix that. The other possibility is that Meghan HAS been asking to borrow jewels, such as the tiara and maybe that isn’t the norm. I kind of suspect these are things that get offered to these ladies to borrow, rather than requested, particularly in the early days of joining the Royal Family. Perhaps it’s come across to the Queen and courtiers as rude and greedy, even if it wasn’t intended that way and Meghan assumed she had the right to request these things.
It’s amazing, people keep falling for these reworked stories.
It’s sad.
From supposed tiara gate, now to this, same ole same ole , made up crap.
@roux — But I don’t buy that, because if that’s the standard (wait to be offered, do not request), wouldn’t Harry have informed her of this so she didn’t step on toes?!
Why is everyone acting like her own husband – a born royal – doesn’t know how things work and wouldn’t inform her. This makes no sense. And we saw the articles about Charles helping her learn more about the monarchy so, another person who definitely knows the rules is also supposedly helping her. I just don’t buy that she’s making all these grabby demands.
“The other possibility is that Meghan HAS been asking to borrow jewels, such as the tiara and maybe that isn’t the norm.”
“Perhaps it’s come across to the Queen and courtiers as rude and greedy, even if it wasn’t intended that way…”
I think this is quite possible too. And this is typically English behaviour. We expect people to just know not to do certain things – even if those things are not intuitive. I mean what the heck is wrong with asking? It is not a f*cking crime! If the answer is no, then fine, but the asking itself is not automatically gauche. But we do love to judge people for not doing things the English way.
When it comes to jewelry how much experience would Harry have, though? His mother died when he was young, so he didn’t see her going through that so much. I doubt he concerned himself with the rules Kate had to follow with jewelry. He’s not borrowing tiaras himself. I also could see him not really giving a flip about jewelry and the protocol surrounding it – and not realizing he’s leaving Meghan in the dark.
I don’t think either of them are stomping their feet and making demands. I think there IS a chance that they’re just casually asking if she can borrow a piece (because my god, I’d want to borrow SO much if I was her – I’m a real crow for gemstones) and it coming off as weird/against protocol.
@Erinn – but presumably someone would have told Kate, right? I cant imagine she would just know which jewels she could borrow, how to ask, etc.
Honestly if I really want to get all tinfoil hat-esque about this, I can see some courtiers specifically NOT telling Meghan so that they can then complain about her. Like, going back to her train ride with the Queen – why wouldn’t someone just tell her, “you need to wear a hat because the Queen is”? Or in terms of getting into or out of the car, why wouldn’t someone have told her “you enter the car before the Queen, so that the Queen can exit first.” She clearly didn’t know the protocol there (and she handled it well.) But there are enough of these little things adding up that honestly, I would fully expect someone to tell her. She’s not going to be familiar with royal protocol. Most of us wouldn’t be. I guess we can believe that someone is sitting her down, telling her all she needs to know, and she’s ignoring it, but that seems sort of against how we see her in public and what people say about her when they meet her (how well prepared she is, etc.) So like I said if I really put my tinfoil hat on tight, I can see the courtiers snickering behind their hands because they’ve withheld information from Meghan and made her look bad.
(I try not to think like that though because conspiracy theories can REALLY suck me in lol.)
And if she asked maybe she phrased it in the way of “Should I wear a tiara?” or “Do I need to wear a tiara?” and not, “Can I have a tiara?” We don’t know IF she asked much less how she asked the question. I find all this just more Meghan bashing.
Remember during Kate’s earlier years and people asked why she wasn’t wearing Royal Collection jewelry, just a lot of Kiki McD? I think this makes it very clear that you don’t ASK to wear pieces from the royal collection, you wait until it is offered.
Yeah, I could see them not telling her, honestly. But I could also somewhat see Kate not bothering to ask and just being told when the time came, and Meghan being super conscious about what she needs to be doing and asking preemptively to make sure she was doing the right thing.
I’m sorry, who asks if you can borrow the royal jewels? Granted as a relative you have a right to ask for special occasions, but who does that? I don’t know this story just seems ridiculous. I just don’t see anyone who would go and ask your husband’s grandmother the Queen of England for some bling to borrow? I mean even the most ardent social climber, and I don’t think Meghan has shown any signs of that, would have the balls to do that. I always thought the borrowing was this royal has a special occasion and the Queen offers them the opportunity to borrow some. The other way seems wrong.
Also, I think a lot of these stories are coming directly from the courtiers who probably don’t like the change Meghan is bringing and brings to the monarchy, and not from William’s camp or other royals directly. The reason I say this is they aren’t making them especially William look good. Most of them make him seem out of touch, competitive with his brother, and mean. All might be true, but not exactly a good p.r. move. Now the story about how William helped Harry get his own media team came from his camp. He looked more like a caring brother and good future ceremonial leader there. Just my thinking, but who knows maybe I just don’t get royal p.r. as this story seems so petty in many different ways.
@noway: it’s not a personal collection, though. The royal collection of jewels is there literally to outfit the royal family for the appropriate occasions. Meghan is a member of the royal family, representing them at public occasions. It’s not ridiculous.
No, I think this is a ‘Look you guys – we’re keeping her in line! No Diana jewels for her!’ to a very specific demographic. I may be wrong, and it’s totally mean, but plausible, no?
I also think they’ve gone this route because it actually makes sense too – she isn’t banned form the collection as a whole – just the bits that are linked to Diana. Now in a normal family, both sons wives should have equal access to their MIL’s jewellery (not that it belonged to Diana, but stay with me) – but for this family, which wields its status and wealth based on tradition and hierarchy, this seems like kind of an obvious move.
again, the way its being done is so mean, and I can imagine hurtful to Harry and Meghan, both, but I’m not all that surprised. These people haven’t held on to power and wealth for generations by being nice.
Oh I see what you are saying, I think. Regardless of whether there is truth to the actual story, you can see it coming from the courtiers/palace as a way to appease those who are upset about Meghan in general (spending, living, etc.)
And I think there are BP/KP fingerprints ALL over this sh*t, as well.
I think the palace is doing everything it can to keep Meghan from becoming Diana 2.0 and taking center stage of the BRF.
Meghan may have “popularity” problems in the UK (especially with the commentariat of the Daily Fail) but I would be willing to bet she is by far the most popular UK Royal worldwide by a long shot. Also FYI: The Princess Royal and Countess of Wessex are quite popular & respected in the USA (by people who follow the BRF) especially by women over the age of 45
This makes sense that certain items are reserved for certain people based on rank. Maybe Meghan was routinely informed about this, which is vastly different from banning and fussing at.
If this is true, then it didn’t happen recently. She had the earrings she wore in Fiji before she was even engaged to Harry. So, they aren’t Royal. She hasn’t been loaned anything since the wedding. So, it may be that she thought that she would have Kate level access since she is technically the same rank ATM. She may have been a little disappointed and Harry got upset. My take away from all these stories is that Meghan is trying to learn and Harry is the one overreacting. He is used to being treated more on par with William and now he’s being treated more like Andrew and Edward because that’s his rank in the family. Meghan will probably have the same access as Sophie. It’s awkward because the public think in order of succession and the Royals think in order of precedence after Charles and Will. So, Harry still comes after Will for the public, but he comes last with Royal protocol.
But why would William need to be assured by the Queen?
It sounds less like Harry overreacting and more like William being quite insistent on exceptions not being made.
Part of recognizing the difference in rank is also acknowledging that the Queen and Charles oversee anything to do with Harry, not William. Harry does not report to William and William is overstepping if he inteferes with his brother’s decisions or requests. That is for the Queen and Charles.
But so far, we have a story of William going to the Queen to question whether Harry should marry Meghan, William going to Philip for advice about Harry seperating from Kensington Palace, William going to the Queen to intefere with how she loans jewellery and probably much more behind the scenes.
William seems very controlling and very entitled to being involved in Harry’s decision making. But he is ignoring protocol because that is for the monarch and the heir, not the heir to the heir.
It never says that the Queen assured him. It says that she personally made him aware of her decisions. That wording to me sounds like he was not part of the decision. Surely he wouldn’t need to be told in person if she was doing what he wanted her to do? Also, it is William’s place to be involved. Final approval is for the Queen and Charles. They 100% involve William in these things as Charles is already 70.
If he made a fuss, I can see the Queen making a point of personally letting him know, otherwise why bother him at all? Someone must have raised the question which included concern from William and he was then personally made aware how things would proceed.
This family usually communicates impersonally through secretaries and aides. That is their normal so this story shows a change from that.
And is there any reporting that William is 100% involved in things? I do not get that impression at all but rather that they are still easing him in and giving him bigger assignments and William is now attending more meetings but still not on par with Charles or the Queen.
I agree that Meghan probably has the same level of access as Sophie. The funny thing is that these massive pieces don’t contribute to the wearer’s beauty. It’s more like the pieces wearing the women than the other way around.
Perhaps her “behaviour” before the wedding that pissed people off was to not Kow-tow to Angela Kelly. She could have pissed off Kelly merely by voicing her not understanding why she could not wear a tiara that had been both offered to and chosen by her. It is interesting how some Royal reporters are saying that Meghan needs to learn to “respect” the courtiers. Huuugh? Who is the senior Royal now??!!
Angela Kelly seems to be coming up more and she’s referenced in today’s vanity fair article saying this ban from royal collection story is false.
Why would The Queen assure William that Meghan wouldn’t be allowed jewels from the Royal Collection? Did he ask? Does he think the marriage won’t last, and therefore doesn’t want his mother’s jewelry associated with a possible ex-wife? I just don’t get it.
Look, I think TQ has been publicly nice to Meghan and I’ve read she likes her privately as well. She’s not petty. If she’s withholding pieces from the collection, she must have more of a reason than putting Meghan “in her place.”
She hasn’t been cut off from the entire collection – just the jewels associated with Diana. It seems mean I suppose, but also makes sense that they are being reserved for the next Princess of Wales. I mean, the story sounds so nasty, but there are plenty of jewels to go around…
I think TQ has restricted access to Diana’s Royal Collection because Diana was so popular. Going into work the day after she died, you could see who had cried or not. And trust me – there were a lot of grown men with next-day cry eyes. Diana was well loved. Personality wise Megan already is a much more of a ‘people’s princess’ than Kate will ever be. I think the reasoning behind this is to limit any further comparisons. Harry still has his mothers private jewllery and no doubt we will see Megan is some of that.
Having read it all again this is clearly all about the fears of overshadowing Kate. How sad that the Palace insiders feel the need to constantly remind us that Kate will be Queen and outranks Meghan.
Also it doesn’t say that Meghan will never wear anything in the Royal Collection worn by Diana, it says that they “will not immediately be made available to her”. So maybe she is too much of a newbie to wear a Diana worn tiara or other baubles just yet , especially as the Palace fears her popularity.
Wearing tiaras is the last thing on Meghan’s mind as she is about to give birth at anytime. This latest dig at Meghan seems to be a reaction to the Tatler article, which incidentally l don’t think is nasty, which says that Meghan is currently the most popular woman in the world, alluded to by this so called Palace insider, who may have been discussing the Tatler article with someone.
It sounds like Meghan can’t wear things made popular by Diana because Kate gets first dibs. Maybe William requested that. Who knows, but it doesn’t sound to me like she cut off completely.
I agree. I read further and it seems like pieces associated with The Princess of Wales are earmarked for Kate, and Meghan has no access, which…makes sense. She’s next in line to be PoW. It sounds like meghan still can borrow other pieces.
But, she’s cut off from ANY jewelry from the royal collection EVER worn by Diana? That has to be a significant chunk of jewelry, considering how long Diana was a working royal and how many major events she attended, and Diana loved bling. Diana wearing something once should not make it “associated with the Princess of Wales.”
Becks
I’m not saying the pieces are associated with Diana specifically, but are instead reserved for The Princess of Wales, whoever that may be, in which case Meghan would never have had access.
@Seraphs – if that is the case, then it makes sense (I said in my initial comment up above that if these limitations are standard – jewelry for the princess of wales cannot be worn by Sophie, Meghan, Fergie when she was a duchess, etc) – but if that IS the case, then I think BP needs to clarify and say so. This article says that The Queen assured William that Meghan could not wear pieces worn by Diana. that sounds absurdly bad.
I don’t think it’d be all jewels that she’s worn – I think it’d be specifically ones notably linked to the PoW. I’m sure there are others that Diana had borrowed in the past without that kind of association, and I would assume those would be fair game.
From my limited understanding of the royal jewels – it seems like there are some slated specifically for certain hierarchical roles, while others are more open to a wider group of borrowers.
The Queen very much has a hierarchy with regards to her jewels, and they all belong to the crown so she can impose any arbitrary rules she wants. There is also a lot in the vaults that we haven’t seen – I think it’s fairly clear that she does not want to remind people how many items are in her personal collection, which is MASSIVE. Sometimes I wonder if her arbitrary rules are to reinforce that items aren’t worn much. Take for example Sophie, who probably goes to the most Tiara events of anyone in the family. She has extremely limited tiara access, to pretty substandard pieces in comparison to what’s in the vaults. She’s never had access to the big bling.
But it would totally be in like with the Queen to decide that certain items are for the Princess of Wales, which would then mean that no one else would wear them. With the few pieces Kate has access to, we’re starting to see some actual significant pieces. And it only took years to get there in the first place.
QEII is pretty big on maintaining traditions, right? I suspect if anything, it’s because Meghan is not the future queen consort and on that basis “should not” have access to certain items (which is all a bit ridiculous, but we are talking about a family who has their role by GOD’S MANDATE, so do bear that in mind… the ridiculousness is all relative).
Yes. Someone mentioned further down that there are pieces Kate doesn’t have access to yet because Camilla does instead (as wife of PoW). Maybe William just wanted to ensure it all comes Kate’s way when the time comes instead of being lent to the wife of someone down the line of succession. I mean, as popular as HM are, and as much as I like to read about them, they really are pretty far down, rank wise.
I really disagree that the Sussexes “rank pretty far down the line.” They are basically the third couple after the queen and Philip, right?! The queen, then the Waleses then Cambridges then Sussexes.
George, Charlotte, and Louis aren’t going to be working for the next 25 years. So for the next 2 decades it will be C&C, W&K, and H&M. People may not like this, but Harry and Meghan are as far up as can be without being the heir or heir to the heir.
William has zero input in what the Queen does with her jewelry collection.
In succession Harry ranks after The Queen, Charles, William and George, but George does not really factor in because of his age. When it comes to precedence, there have been times where precedence seems to be along the same lines as succession, and other times where his aunt and uncles, presumably because they are children of the reigning monarch, were given precedence.
@ aaa:
Harry ranks behind all three Cambridge kids, not just George.
Right? It sounds to me like this is more about William controlling access to pieces his mother was known to wear than anything else. Meghann still has access to the Royal Collection, just not those pieces.
I can’t believe some people are actually falling for this crap story. ROTFL
If it’s a story about Meghan it must automatically must be true. Lol
We are all missing the point! I agree with the author, this story not about the BRF, the jewel collection or who gets to wear what. The real story is about someone “from the palace” spoon feeding more shit for this shit-show to hack tabloid writers covering the BRF to make Meghan look bad. Sad! This is really sad!
It did not work with Diana and it will not work with Meghan.
90s girl
I think there’s some hint of truth to the story in that, yes, it’s standard for certain pieces to be earmarked for certain titleholders. Maybe someone mentioned it to Meghan or maybe they didn’t, but either way it seems like much ado about nothing.
@Bay – yup. For me the bigger point isn’t whether the queen is withholding jewelry from Meghan or why (its possible she is, for a legitimate/standard reason, possible she’s not and this is all just made up) – but I don’t think Wooten sat down and thought “what else can I make up about Meghan.” Someone gave him this story.
But if looked at closely this is just a reworked version of the Tiara gate stories, just with other aspects thrown in.
I worked in a news room and it’s amazing how many people can’t see that a story has just been reworked to fit whatever narrative.
IMO
@90s Girl – I can believe that this is just a reworking of all the other tiara stories but also find the timing and this particular story a bit suspect. This one includes very specific quotes (new ones) and specifically references the Queen and William discussing the jewels (why William? why not Harry or Charles?) I can believe that Wooten has been sitting on these quotes for a while but also think that this particular story published this particular day is weird, you know?
ETA – wait, I’ve read other of your comments and I think we are on the same page, more or less.
I agree this story was given to him by someone, and I am dumbfounded on why everyone is like it’s just to bash Meghan. Sure if true it makes Meghan seem bad, but also the Queen, and William, cause he supposedly had to know Meghan wasn’t wearing the jewels associated with his mother. So who is giving these stories and why? I kind of think these stories where no one looks good are the royal workers who for various reasons tell them. Cause if it was coming from a certain camp, I would think it would make one side appear a bit better.
Also this story seems like a good reminder that Kate is the next Princess of Wales, and outranks Meghan, which always makes me consider who the source of this leak could be.
This. If the Queen did decide this, there would be no reason to leak it to the press. It seems far more likely that this comes from the Cambridge camp.
IDK, it sounds like there are plenty of Buck House courtiers who are in a snit about Meghan.
Let’s assume there are BP courtiers who don’t like Meghan. They would have to know that this article makes the Queen look bad. The optics of the Queen putting extra rules on the only person of color in the royal family RIGHT before she has a baby isn’t good. BP courtiers may not like Meghan, but they wouldn’t leak info that would make the Queen look so petty and cold.
@Melly – I think the courtiers think HM looks good putting Meghan “in her place.”
@Megan – can you elaborate on what you think the BP courtiers are in a snit about? The queen – their boss – seems to approve of Meghan based on taking her on a full day of engagements (on the royal train no less) and giving her a pair of earrings that matched the Queen’s own faves. She also gave her one of her long-standing patronages and made her VP of the Comm Trust. She what’s the evidence (real evidence not leaked sources) that the queen is in a snit about Meghan?
@Royalwatcher – I think she means based on the sheer amount of bad stories about Meghan that have gotten out. Someone at BP does not like her.
Imo all the evidence points to this not coming from BP but rather from the Cambridge camp.
@Royalwatcher – I never said the queen was in a snit. Please don’t misquote me or put words in my mouth.
Royalwatcher – Megan said the courtiers are in a snit, not the Queen. Just because she likes Meghan, there’s a lot of whispers that the courtiers don’t. I think they are more into tradition and putting people in their “place” and being snobs than even the royals!
Megan, sorry. Clearly I got a bit discombobulated by the end since you can see I started my comment by asking why you thought the BP courtiers were in a snit. Still curious why you think they’re in a snit when the queen appears to approve of Meghan?
These stories are so disgusting, and the fact that the royals family does nothing about them is equally as gross. She can’t even enjoy her last month of pregnancy.
Everytime I read one of these stories it confirms my suspicions that there is something funky going on with the royals and it has nothing to do with Meg
+1
Harry and Meghan do have agency. If they felt responding to these nonsense stories was a good idea they would do so.
Considering the ever present Diana ring on her ring finger, everyone remembers Kate will be the next Princess of Wales.
Def the Cambridge camp burying the affair story. That said, it’s possible that Meg stepped out of line when requesting jewels, either because she didn’t know any better or is a diva.
I think the point is often missed that both things can be true: Diva + Prudes/racists are out to get her. She’s a beautiful wealthy person. Most of those people tend to be divas.
Or, people are conditioned to THINK that beautiful wealthy people are divas, and then confirmation bias kicks in. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
I see your point a bit, but it makes William seem petty and I just can’t see that being from his camp..
Whoa. This has the ring of truth about it.
There should be a ring in the royal collection with this name.
I guess the BRF is falling into the trap of seeing Meghan as *uppity*? Do they not see what this is really about?
I think a lot of us do.
The Daily Mail has an oddly similar story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6884941/The-Queen-bans-Meghan-wearing-jewellery-Royal-Collection.html
Maybe the queens behind it all. She’s been sending Vulcan and Candy with little notes attached to their collars to spread some fake stories to reporters just to f-ck shit up. She’s bored, and the grand kids aren’t entertaining her enough. She wants to see a Clegane-bowl style duke (unintentional pun, but not ashamed) out.
😂😂😂 The Queen gives her doggos the BEST names, I love seeing her inner personality and I ADORE IT! Candy!!!! 🍭Vulcan!!!!😈
Right? It makes her seem so much more human, doesn’t it? Such a difference between themes, too.
she did go to Northern Ireland and visited the Iron Throne. Maybe that got her thinking.
Man, I’d love for that to be true. Her just sitting there giggling with her bedtime glass of champagne, passing the dogs some treats, laughing about modernizing by following the tv trends.
Sorry but maybe Meghan is not allowed to wear pieces for the Queen or future Queens?
I just don’t see the Queen being this petty especially so public.
I do not see QEII being this petty period.
I think it was funny that the Meghan-emerald tiara story did not come out until AFTER Eugenie wore an emerald tiara at her wedding.
I’m sure Meghan will wear vault jewels. Just not the ones worn by Camilla or Kate. This is just a non-story by British press because they’re making so much money off the royal “feud”
Hmmm my two cents – I think this may be because of the way Meghan has been received by the public in general (look I know you guys want to believe everyone loves her, but remember the audience reading the sun, mirror etc – many of these people are the same Brexit voting, jingoistic, monarchy supporters). I think this is a way to mitigate the vitriol towards her – which she would no doubt receive being seen wearing ostentatious jewels from the royal collection.
I’m not saying it’s right, but it makes sense. I mean, as much as she is a breath of fresh air, she does seem to prioritise vanity over optics (the cost of her clothes). She has played straight into the ‘let them eat cake’ narrative, and I think this is move by the senior royals to protect themselves from the braying red tops and their readers.
Right, senior royals have really been bending over backwards to “protect: Meghan. (Obvious sarcasm is obvious)
Meghan has been received extremely well by the public, both in the UK and in the commonwealth. Royal journalists on the other hand can’t stand that a American biracial divorced woman married into the royal family. You’re confusing the public with royal journalists.
Lol, no, I’m not. I’m referring to the demographic that buys and reads the red tops. If you believe Meghan has been received wel across the board by the people that read that trash, then I have a bridge to you.
I don’t know, I think that those large and adoring crowds are made up of, at least in part, red top readers. They’re a big demographic.
Did Charles speak out on Fergie’s behalf when the press was calling her fat after giving birth twice? Did he speak out on Sophie’s behalf when she was accused of selling access to the BRF? Meghan and Harry aren’t children and can speak for themselves. They are choosing to ignore tabloid gossip because they are playing the long, long game. They have another five or six decades in public life.
Sophie did try to sell access to the royal family. Charles disliked Andrew and Fergie.
Here is a case where Meghan is attacked for optics but the Wessexes take private planes and live at Bagshot Park and the Yorks are treated to an expensive experience in Bahrain with no attacks in the press on their optics.
Charles should step in to protect his daughter-in-law. It does not reflect well on him that he has not done so.
@Silas – Sophie didn’t try to sell access to the royal family (Fergie did, though). Sophie allegedly called the Queen “old dear” and insulted various politicians in her fake sheikh scandal.
Ah. I stand corrected, Tina. Thank you.
Per Silas Marner: “Charles disliked Andrew and Fergie.”
Charles disliked Andrew because he is the Queen’s favorite child.
Charles disliked Fergie (before the toe-sucking event) because the Queen & Fergie got on like gangbusters due to Sarah Ferguson being a true country girl, a lover of dogs of all types, an expert horsewoman and not really interested in the London-Sloane Ranger set. The closeness of this relationship drove Diana further up the wall which caused more problems for the Charles-Diana relationship which thereby gave Charles more martial strife to have to deal with.
These relationships are well documented in one of Lady Colin Campbell’s books. Yes! I do take Lady Colin Campbell with much more than a grain of salt and would buy any Royal book she authored.
@BayTampaBay, there’s plenty of stuff that Lady Colin Campbell prints that’s absolute drivel, but I do think that her gossip wrt Charles, Diana and the whole set were accurate because she did know people who were in the know, and a lot of this stuff was common knowledge.
I think the main sticking point with Fergie was that she was embarrassing for the RF in a public way. Her lack of discretion did her in. As we’re seeing the with the affair rumours, running your mouth is the big no-no in this crowd, and Fergie, bless her, couldn’t manage that at all.
I wager that the story is untrue; BO will not deign to counter it but soon enough we’ll see Meghan wearing the very jewels that she’s allegedly cut off from.
As a black woman, i know too well the obsession with keeping us in our place, and i feel for Meghan. Hopefully she’s tough as nails
I don’t think it has anything to do with Meghan’s race, TBF. They might have protested the wedding (on the grounds of her race) before but now that’s done and she’s here to stay, so they wouldn’t go after her for her race alone. It’s something else.
Keep in mind she did marry into the most hierarchical family in the west. They have a whole book of rules just to who has to curtesy whom. It’s ridiculous. I don’t know why anyone would be surprised that they have a ranking order for jewellery too.
And yes, they also monitor behaviour. These women practically have to be flowers and supportive wives. Diana was raked through the coals when she failed to comply, and she was the people’s darling far more than Kate or Meghan ATM are. Meghan will have a hard time if this goes on as she doesn’t seem the type to bow her head (and good for her), but honestly, she’s smart enough and should have known what she’s getting herself into when she married a literal prince.
I think most, if not all, of the criticism has to do with her race. Of course, i wonder how many stories have to be pumped out before we do believe that Meg is demanding, which I’ve stated before, is not a bad thing. She’s obviously rubbed people the wrong way as this is way way way over the top per smear campaigns.
Anyway, i think a lot of the stories coming out are probably true, but the spin is completely off. I’m sure she was made aware that the baby shower turned into a fiasco, and that some jewels of Diana’s might be limited to avoid further controversy. Until the BRF can get a handle on shit, i see a lot more of these “regulations” being put on. It shouldn’t be that way. She shouldn’t have to deal with all this BS, but at the end of the day, she does. And as much as I’d like to see her give a great big FU to everyone and live her best duchess life, if she doesn’t start playing by the rules they’re going to get a lot nastier. It’s bullshit and we can point out that it’s racist bullshit until the cows come home, but that doesn’t change anything.
The racism might come from how the stories are spinned in the (right-wing) newspapers, but her behaviour being out of line or her not being granted certain jewellery is pretty standard royal stuff. (Again – Diana.)
Not to do with race?! Wow, I want to live in your world!! Of course it’s about race otherwise we would see the same number of articles talking about how Kate ranks below Camilla and needs to “know her place” etc…and we don’t. Ever.
You won’t get those articles because
1) Camilla hardly registers – she will never escape Diana’s shadow (doesn’t look like she even cares, so good for her), it took ages for people to stop seeing her as a usurper (and not to mention you have people who think Charles shouldn’t be king anyway, that it should go directly to William);
2) Kate, unlike Meghan, does “know her place”. And I don’t mean that in a good way for Kate either. She started dating William in college and has been – by everyone, including her family – trained to know her place. She loves it too, no doubt. Meghan, on the other hand, is new at this and has more of a mind of her own – which I can only applaud – but that does come off as breaking the ridiculously stiff rules of the royals.
HOW could she possibly know? In truth…..I don’t think ANYBODY could have known…..
Did Meghan actually rub people at BP the wrong way or are they just such racist snobs that they resented having to take orders from a divorced American black actress? All of Meghan’s friend gush about how nice she is. I find it hard to believe she suddenly turned into Duchess Difficult.
@Nanny: if you think this isn’t about racism I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
It absolutely is about racism. ABSOLUTELY
Royal family hierarchy, got to love it. Want there a memo sent round when Kate married in about who curtsys to who & when. I tenths it being a big deal that Eugenie & Beatrice were blood Princesses, so outranked Kate if William wasn’t present?
This might be something similar. Pure speculation, in this case, Kate outranks Meghan by being married to an heir.
Kate most certainly outranks Meghan, she’s the future queen consort after all.
And the curtsy thing … Isn’t there something like A has to bow to B but if B’s husband is present then it’s the other way around … And you have to know these rules for every member of a huge extended family.
Seriously, marrying into the royals sounds like a chore even without the work these ladies actually have to do.
@Nanny – it comes down to where you got your “position” from – so Kate outranks Eugenie and Beatrice, but only because she married William. So they do not have to curtsy to her when she is not with William (I don’t think she ever has to curtsy to B&E though.) I think Kate DOES have to curtsy to Anne when she is not with William though – because she is the Queen’s daughter maybe? I’m not sure why it would be different for Anne than for B&E, but maybe I’m wrong. Likewise I think Kate has to curtsy to Camilla when she is with Charles, but not when she isn’t with him.
Basically as I remember the story, the blood princesses (including Anne) got bent out of shape at the idea of having to curtsy to Camilla and Kate, so there was a switch in the protocol.
I think the whole story is false.
Nicole Cliffee spelled out what was going to gown down in the British press with more negative stories on Meghan, after the stories on William and Kate last week.
The entire Jewelry story is just a reworked version of the tiara story, but this time using the phrase Diana’s jewels and beside Meghan has been seen publicly wearing Diana’s jewels so it doesn’t make sense.
It’s just more of British press bullying and trying to diminish the Duchess, a woman of color.
“Nicole Cliffee spelled out what was going to gown down in the British press with more negative stories on Meghan, after the stories on William and Kate last week.”
I mean – any of us could literally have said that though. It’s just the norm, unfortunately. There’s a negative Meghan story at least weekly it seems – correlation doesn’t mean causation.
Yes, 90s girl. Preach.
Oh COME ON. Once, just once, I would like to wake up to a day in which poor Meghan isn’t being trashed in one way or another over something trivial and likely more than 99% likely untrue. It’s exhausting and it’s sad.
I’d like to get off this planet now, please.
It’s amazing, people keep falling for these reworked stories.
It’s sad.
From supposed tiara gate, now to this, same ole same ole , made up crap.
If someone leaked her favorite shampoo brand the tabs would have kittens. It’s a nasty, ugly business. Hopefully these stories will soon stop getting clicks. I mean how many times can they recycle a nothingburger story about jewelry no one appears to be asking to wear?
Hmm, am not so sure of the truth of this. Yeah TQ has the control but pretty much every female member of the family gets use of the royal bling and I don’t think TQ is petty enough to single one person out to ban. Its maybe there are just not enough tiara’s to go round now.
For me the interesting and new piece of gossip is the snippet that TQ told William the she wouldn’t have access to Diana’s jewellery. As Kaiser points out apart from the tiara’s etc.. Di had a large personal jewel collection that was split between the Princes which is public knowledge and just highlights this story is BS. Plus it also says that William has been bitching about Meghan to TQ and confirms to me that yeah HE is behind the smear campaign against Meghan. Given the obsession over the royal jewels, someone does NOT want Meghan to have access to the biggest bling collection on the planet. Someone is threatened.
Charles and TQ need to step in now and put a stop to this – the Cambridges aren’t as for every negative article about Meghan, Kate is being praised to the heavens. Kate is getting some of the best press since the shine wore off her wedding.
@DigitalUni – that’s what is standing out to me as I re-read it. IF there is truth to this, then it seems more about the Queen assuring William that no one is going to forget that Kate is the next Princess of Wales, as it also seems like the only jewelry the Queen is explicitly banning from Meghan’s use is the jewelry that Diana wore.
When I first read I assumed the “William” line was a mistake and that it was meant to read that the Queen had told HARRY…..but it clearly wasn’t.
Wait. You just said the story is BS because the boys have Diana’s pieces but then say the story is proof that William asked the queen not to let Meghan near Diana’s jewelry. :/
No I didn’t say that – I said he (or someone) didn’t want her to have access to the Royal Jewel collection which is massive and contains some of the biggest, priceless and famous pieces in the world.
The tiara’s and some of the jewellery Di wore did not belong to her, they belong to TQ. Those pieces are just famous because she wore them and because they are items that are generally worn by the Princess of Wales (the heir’s wife).
Okay. So Diana’s pieces, for the purposes of this story, weren’t part of her personal bequest but rather royal collection pieces that are now famous because she wore them in her heyday, thereby possibly prompting William to ask Gran not to lend them to Meghan. If that’s wrong I hope you’ll break it down for me a tad further. If that’s right thank you for clarifying. Apologies for my misunderstanding of your op.
My only issue with this theory is that QE’s most junior staffer would already be well aware of which big gun PssOW pieces were off-limits and to whom those limitations applied. The notion that William would have to storm in tell QE something she was born knowing seems a bit soap opera to me. My argument hinges on likelihood versus absurdity as opposed to whether or not William is actually capable of it.
Yes for me the part of the story about William going to TQ reads that William doesn’t want Meghan to have access to pieces in the royal collection that his mother wore and wanted his grandmother to assure him.
And yes I think he is that petty, remember this is the guy that had that a pissy fit over the guest list for his wedding then went whinging to grandma about it and then bragged about it in a TV interview. And the other tiara she’s famous for wearing was the Spencer tiara which is her families. If William wants Kate to wear that he needs to ask his Uncle who owns it.
Edit, to add I think the BS part of the story is TQ banning anyone. I can see him complaining. And I think Kate already does wear much of the royal jewellery Diana did. So as I say I can totally see William getting prissy over Meghans access to the family jewellery. There has been too much drama made in the press over this that there must be some truth. No smoke without a fire. It kinda feels like they want to deny her the jewels as a way of not allowing her to be a Princess in the eyes of the public. Maybe I’m wrong on that point.
Jewellery is a big part of the image of royalty, Kings of old had to have the biggest and brightest of all the bling as it was used to show them as above everyone else. It was about status. Denying Meghan access to the royal jewels is to deny her that royal status and someone clearly doesn’t want her to havej that status. At this point it’s could be several people but I still think it’s the Cambridge’s who r triggered as she makes them both look bad by being herself and making Harry very happy. These articles are desperate to make Kate out to be the most royal married in that ever was.
This reeks of the snobbery that was used against W allis Simpson, who despite marrying the former King was denied the usage of HRH as was her right. All this came from The Queen Mother who legend has it could be a total beyatch (and was rumoured to have had a fancy for her brother in law and was jealous of Wallis who was a glamorous American and she a dowdy English rose). Pettiness runs deep in that family.
@DU I generally agree, but I don’t think Wallis is a good parallel. Both because that was a very unusual situation (a living former King in the BRF) and because Wallis and David were Nazi-supporting scum, who had to be bundled off to the Bahamas during WWII so they couldn’t pass information to the Germans. I do agree the QM could be extremely petty though.
I’m not sure William would put this much energy into thinking about jewelry. Kate has plenty of her own pieces.
The question is why didn’t The Queen and Prince Charles step in? This kind of stories about Meghan has been going on for months? Do the courtiers and Cambridge have more power than The Queen?
That’s the question. I think we should change the statement of ‘what Meghan wants Meghan gets’ to ‘what William wants William gets’ as thats probably the truth for a lot of things.
‘I think we should change the statement of ‘what Meghan wants Meghan gets’ to ‘what William wants William gets’
THIS
If this is true, then how petty is this man that he’s going around trying to make sure his wife, who will literally be the queen, doesn’t get overshadowed by his brother’s wife wearing his mums jewellery. And how mean, as well. Ick.
I think having a senior royal intervene would be like throwing gasoline on the fire. The tabs are desperate to get a rise out of the BRF.
Hopefully things will slowly change as the stuffy old courtiers, just like the Trump voters in the US and the Brexiters, start dying off and are replaced with younger, more tolerant and open-minded people.
Same goes for the ridiculously insular “royal reporters.” Once the dinosaurs like Dickie Arbiter, Camilla Tominey and Richard Palmer are out of the picture, hopefully we’ll get more like Omid.
Megan, I very much get agree with you. Senior Royals, QEII and PoW, will not feed the tabloids.
“…William has been bitching about Meghan to TQ and confirms to me that yeah HE is behind the smear campaign against Meghan…”
If William really is the one and only person behind the month-long campaign and the godzillion leaks and stories, then he has my grudging respect for being an evil mastermind and genius schemer. Judging from his overall behaviour, he IMO totally lacks the ambition to carry out such a campaign. Also, by now Charles or TQ would have shut it/him down. But maybe William is pulling strings from his secret cave below Amner Hall and no-one know about it? 🙂
Seriously, this has been going on for months so IMO there must be several sources behind it, one of them being William. And the TQ and Charles are to a certain extend OK with it, as way too much has happened to simply stick to their motto “never complain, never explain.” And it also shows that Harry has zero power to stop the leaks.
‘what William wants William gets’ – the best line ever.
And I can see William running around trying to make sure English Rose doesnt get overshadowed.
William doesnt appear too busy so leaking a few stories once a day seems do able.
But of course never Kate.
She’s an innocent flower in all of this. Curiously, she is the only one coming out looking good in every one of these “leaks”. Except for that one time when she shut down the one about how she screamed at meghan. Can’t have the precious flower be seen in such light, you see.
Yeah, I don’t believe she’s that innocent. Kate and her mother have connections in pr and media, daily fail being one of them. Pretty sure they know the editor of dm and the editor of tatler said kate told him it is her favourite magazine. And they’ve been friends since uni. There ya go.
@justsayin. ITA with what u say but since the wedding the Middletons almost never leak without the nod from William, well it seems like that to me as their strat changed once she had the ring on her finger. Esp as there was at least one occasion where William made Kate sue Tanna a Middleton app (who by how own admission was on speed dial by the family and had direct access to Kate, as did Katie Nichols). Kate has always followed his lead.
The story actually says that the queen told William Meghan wouldn’t have access to any of the items from the royal collection that Diana had famously worn (like the Cambridge Lover’s Knot, which Kate has worn several times). That is separate from Diana’s personal collection, pieces from which both Kate and Meghan have clearly been gifted and have worn. If that’s what’s convinced you that William is behind all this then you might want to reread because that’s literally not what the story says.
The story mentions twice that the Queen “made William personally aware” and “personally assured William” that Meghan would not wear anything from the royal collection that Diana had worn, “as part of the situation.” Why would the Queen be informing William of this? In an article emphasizing hierarchy, position in the family etc – it seems that it would make more sense if the Queen either informed Charles, or told Harry directly. The parts about William make it sound like William was worried that Meghan would “take” some of the jewelry that Kate wants to wear.
I’m still so confused as to which pieces were Diana’s that are part of the royal collection. Aside from the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara, which was very specifically given to Kate as we’ve seen multiple times, what other iconic pieces would a lay person be able to assume were Diana’s jewelry? The very fact that they’re a part of the royal collection and had to be returned after the divorce makes it clear that they were not Diana’s but the Queen’s.
This entire situation is so bizarre. If dealing with this family and all their bs is worth the perks to Meghan then she will be fine and find a way to deal. She must have known what she was marrying into. She and Harry could both choose real jobs and a normal life but they want the royal life. This is what it costs them. It sucks but it’s the reality.
Aang said, “This entire situation is so bizarre.”
And it is getting more bizzaro each and every day.
In the movie “The Queen”, the actor playing Tony Blair says, “Someone needs to save these people from themselves.” I am convinced the people advising QEII and the Royal Family are the stupidest people in the world.
I do also wonder why they continue to put up with this foolishness. Money is nice, but not when it all comes with being ripped daily by the media and society snobs. It’s just not worth it to me, and I completely understand why Harry’s exes wanted to get as far away from this family as possible. Meghan left the toxic Markles only to become a part of the toxic Windsors.
The same queen that named her Vice President of the of the Commonwealth trust banned her from the royal jewelry collection……Sure the sun I totally buy that.
Do any of the younger set wear pieces from there except at state dinners and a few galas? I’ve seen a few necklaces on Kate (and not until a few years in) and 2/3 tiaras-but I don’t remember seeing Sophie wearing pieces outside of official gala events either. Seems like another throwing under the bus story to me.
This was something I was thinking as well. Meghan hasn’t gone to that many events where “big bling” would have been required, and when she has we have seen her wearing jewelry that seems in line with her personal style – ethically made jewelry, or more minimal in general. The big exception I can think of is those diamond earrings in Fiji, but that has probably been the most formal event we have seen her attend.
Kate didn’t wear significant jewelry from the royal vaults in the first year after her marriage either if I recall correctly.
This is terrible. I am neutral on William and Kate but this is making me actively dislike them, fairly or not. The daily dressings down of Meghan via the press have reached a disgusting level of toxicity.
It makes it so much worse because Meghan is just about to give birth. Who tf likes to pick on a pregnant lady? You have to be a certain level of awful to think that’s ok.
IMHO, somebody is trying to keep Polo Baby Sussex off the front pages of the Red-top Tabloids.
That baby’s picture is going to be on almost every newspaper in Britain and the world. 53 Commonwealth countries will carry it, for a start.
Yeah, I agree. The fact that no one in the family (the Queen, Charles, William) with any power has stepped in to put a stop the daily stream of Meghan smear articles has made it very clear what kind of people they are. But they were so quick to slap down the Chumley story.
I’ve over it. They are all cancelled except Meghan and Harry. And the Cambridge kids. But the rest can kick rocks.
Except as has been pointed out: to deny it only pours gas on the fire.
They need to speak to Willy and get him to knock it off.
Wow, they just do not give up, do they?
Nicole Cliffee spelled it out in her tweets last week. A new batch of diminish Meghan stories would be in the way and here they are.
I think basically this is a reworked version of the tiara story. It’s like Groundhog Day for the British press. I think both stories are made up crap.
As always preface my comments with I don’t care for either duchess ( IMO both married for advancement, would not care for either irl ). However this story to me looks bad for the Queen, true or not. the only POC is not being allowed access to jewelry, which is apparently the British Royal equivalent of separate drinking fountains and schools.
That’s why I don’t believe the source of the story is BP, they are smart enough to know this would look bad. If you look at who looks good in this story, it’s Kate. It only makes sense to assume this is coming from the Cambridge camp. Meghan is just about to pop and they can’t even give her a slight break, it’s really disgusting.
Last week Nicole Cliffee tweets spelled out what was coming.
Basically more crap and Meghan diminishing by British press.
I find this story infuriating, but it’s the actual story that is ticking me off so much. IF the Queen has limited Meghan’s jewel access, I’m sure it is for something more reasonable than “her behavior” – maybe it is about reducing jewelry wear across the board for the royals (although I doubt that, considering what Kate wore to the state dinner in the fall.) But the tone of this story – that the Queen is punishing the black duchess because of her “behavior” – is just disgusting and BP needs to push back on it ASAP.
I agree, this makes the Queen look really bad, so I’m curious whether BP will issue a statement (I doubt it).
I hope the Queen throws major shade on this. In her own subtle way. Like the next state occasion Meghan attends, she should be draped in diamonds. And given an emerald tiara to wear. 🙂
@Heather. I hope the Queen makes a point of visiting Meghan in the hospital.
I know that this is extremely unlikely.
It’s a weird story because the things that Kate has already worn won’t be worn by anyone else which is par for the course and the Queen hasn’t lent very much to Kate anyway since Camilla is higher in rank. Once Charles is king he will have control of the collection, depending on what is there as the Queen will certainly give certain things to Anne and likely sophie directly. But I’ve never heard of a story where Sophie is barred from wearing certain things and she is in a similar position as Meghan.
It’s the ultimate in petty and trying to put the biracial princess in her place. If I was Charles I would be seeking out the people behind this because it only makes the royal family look insular and racist. And to put these stories out just before she’s ready to give birth is unnecessarily cruel. She never gets a break.
I actually can’t wait for Charles to be King just because that man LOVES the jewels! I’d wager we’d see ALLL the ladies wearing much more than they do now.
Cams knows how to rock a tiara and the big bling.
And Cammie is probably the one who cares the least about who wears what jewelry and would prefer to wear no jewelry herself. I just do not see elaborate diamonds being Cammie’s thing.
Camilla has worn some serious bling. Her wedding ring is I believe at least a 10ct emerald cut. She has worn some major diamond necklaces, and a big tiara or two in her time. Yes she’s outdoorsy and stuff, but she wouldn’t wear such spectacular pieces if she didn’t like a little bit of shine. She could always choose something smaller and just as appropriate, but she has worn some major bling. And isn’t her family tiara, the Cubitt-Shand tiara? It’s gorgeous and not demure.
I actually don’t know the TQ is going to leave much to individual people, given what happened with the estate taxes on Margaret’s jewelry. Those taxes didn’t exist and/or apply to royalty back when Queen Mary was giving bequests to all her granddaughters. I wouldn’t be suprised if the Queen leaves almost everything to the Royal Foundation, to avoid the tax burden, but leaves specific instructions for Charles about who can wear what.
At this point, Charles is the one I’m most disappointed in. HM is old and stubborn and set in her ways, but Charles should grow a pair and start getting this sh!t shut down in the British media. No matter who is behind it, it is disgusting and Charles should be appalled. Yet he’s done nothing as far as we know. He’s close enough to the throne that he’s got some clout and he should use it. If he was able to get Christopher Geidt canned, he can surely handle the tabloid rags.
The fact that Meghan is pregnant makes all of this so much more repugnant. I know that British people (who obviously know way better than I do how things work) have explained why Harry would never just leave the BRF altogether, but I hope he’s at least thinking about it. This abuse is out of control and Meghan cannot be expected to just take it for the rest of her life. I know they would lose the RPOs but they have enough money to live securely elsewhere. They should go to California and be done with all of this BS. Plenty of celebrities are able to maintain security and privacy and they could, too.
It’s not like Meghan drapes herself in ostentatious jewels that would “upstage” kate ( barf) she is usually very understated in her accessories…clearly just one more way to smear her while reminding people that kate is a future queen….
I smell Will and Kate cooking up more Meagan bashing stories. The whole theme of pecking order and future queen comes up a LOT these days.
Ooooooooooog. This is some serious ‘put the Uppitty Black Woman in her place’ ish. That family is egging on the bad PR. This came out of a Palace for certain—whether the Queen is behind it, may be subject to DOUBT, but this comes from KP or BP. Not good. The Black people do not approve… Especially since the ill-gotten jewellery came from the darker side of the world. The plundering and looting of the Commonwealth to get the Palace gold and British riches. Now the Black Princess is being put in her place and cut off from jewelry. THE OPTICS ARE BAD, BRITAIN. Very. Very. Bad.
Very bad indeed. They will not recover from their mistreatment of Meghan. The woman’s style is not do Ostentatious. Brits live on an island with few natural resources and those jewels are the treasure of nations raided in the days “when the sun never set on the empire.”
Watch out—- I doubt commonwealth nations will ever elect William as president of the commonwealth of nations. RF is not supposed to be political but this palace slander has serious political implications around the commonwealth.
I call bullshit on the whole story. This is the Queen’s collection, and the rules for dealing with that collection have probably been in place for decades which all of the women have been advised of. The Queen doesn’t leak shit-she’s the Queen, and if she’s unimpressed I’m quite sure the way she would let Megan know would have nothing to do with the press. Sorry, I don’t buy it.
Agree. +1
What is even the point of this useless piece of crap article, but to try and embarrass a pregnant woman due to give birth any day now?
These people are just evil, and the source of this article like all the smears, is the Cambridge camp. I say that because it always seems to try and put them in the best light.
I’m so happy Meghan and Harry don’t have to share a staff with those vipers any longer.
Well I guess Harry and Meghan will need to open their cheque books and invest in some diamonds and gems.
A good thing Meghan is not into over the top jewelry, the designers in Canada are happy that she buys their small pieces.
In the pecking order, the Queen would have to tell Charles not William, people are giving Willian more power than he have.
Sorry. Not buying it. Meghan favors dainty jewelry in her day to day life so there seems to be no basis for this constant insinuation that she’s demanding or even desires opulent Crown Jewels.
The common thread running through all these Meghan hit pieces is “Kate is the best” and “William is the peacebroker middleman”.
The Cambridge connection to the editors and writers of a lot of these stories can no longer be ignored.
The hit pieces always come after some triumphant event like the Sussex tour or the breaking the internet with a new Instagram account. Someone is not happy with Meghan’s popularity and needs to keep reminding us that she’s she may be popular but she’s still lower ranked than Kate.
Unfortunately THIS. For a long time I believed the bad press was from the courtiers and not the Cambridges (though they benefit from it) but now it seems pretty clear that they are actively involved in this. I mean every single time something positive is said about the Sussex’s a bad story is released within days.
Yuck, it is so gross and petty. Well Normal Bill really is Charles’ son. Also the optics of this story are really really bad.
I realized that for a while now, #GlobalBabySussexBaby Shower and setting the World record on Instagram, out came the knives for Meghan.
Self flagellation over a baby shower is not doing it for them, so now the Queen is hiding her jewels from big bad Meghan.
@Weaver, agreed on all counts.
The Instagram record must have REALLY ruffled some feathers at KP. The thing is, no matter what the Cambridges, or the courtiers, or even the Queen herself tries to do, Harry and Meghan are by far the most popular members of the BRF right now and there is NOTHING any of them can do about it. The people have spoken and Meghan is adored.
I would have paid money to be a fly on the wall when William and Kate learned about the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD breaking story yesterday : )
ETA William is so stupid if he thinks no one realizes the hit pieces on Meghan come out as soon as Harry and Meghan are successful/their popularity is highlighted, like the tour or the cookbook or the Instagram thing. It’s like clockwork and it is so obvious but we all know that William thinks he’s a PR genius.
This story comes off the heels of the Sussexes hitting 3 million followers on Instagram. I am beginning to think the Cambridges and KP staff are behind this one. Threatened by world wide reception Slick Willie needs to remind little brother Harry the pecking order. Again another story that put the Cambridges in a bad light.
I was just going to say that it’s funny how every time there is some sort of positive occurence for Meghan, it is quickly followed by a negative article meant to bring her down a notch or two.
Given the recent Instagram record breaking, I wonder if a photo of the Cambridge kids will be released soon. That’s their MO.
But soon Baby Sussex will be here and that move won’t have as much power to draw attention anymore.
Poor Meghan. Bad Kate, bad Will, bad Charles and now bad Queen. The is some smering campaing but it is not from QEII and BRF (nor Wil and Kate too- b/c rumors about Will #affair were death after 5 minutes). Oh my, my…
How about none of them deserve any of this ridiculous wealth because all they’ve done to “earn” it is be born and get married?
Tell that to all the American royalists on this site. Most Brits don’t give a toss about the useless royal family.
Honestly. Britain is about to find itself in a hell of a financial bind and ANY story questioning who has the right to which extravagant jewels is not a good look for the RF right now. If someone there did plant this story in what seems to be a weird royal média feud then LOL this crew is even dumber than I thought they were.
Where there is smoke, there is fire. You have to admit that, even those that think Meghan walks on water.
By that logic, William has definitely had multiple affairs.
And I’m sure he has…..
‘what William wants William gets’ – Digital Unicorn
Lol of course he probably has. He didn’t exactly try to hide how much he wanted to marry ANYONE else for about 10 years
For some reason this story clinches for me that the problem is a culture clash. Meghan is an American and we DO have a very different communication style to the British. Even when we are being polite, we’re more direct and more…upbeat isn’t quite the word, but I’ve found that my good cheer can sometimes oddly register as aggressive in British circles.
I don’t think Meghan has done anything wrong, really, she’s no doubt been her politest version of her vivacious American extroverted self — and that alone was enough to rub some courtiers the wrong way.
She must be going through some extreme culture shock right now. I’ve actually found it harder in the UK than in some place where differences were more immediately apparent, like Pakistan. It’s almost harder to adjust/learn the tacit rules guiding social interactions when on the surface everyday life looks so similar.
I buy it! I always thought the sudden let’s bend the rules and show we are inclusive by inviting her to things before she married Harry thing was PR. I don’t think his family likes her they like what she represents for their brand.
And what is it she represents? Brown people? Working hard? Bringing publicity to her charities? Connecting with Britons of color? What specifically are you talking about?
I believe Sassy means conspicuous consumption. Unfortunately, the good MM does is often overshadowed by her over-the-top spending. The optics when it comes to her wardrobe and baby shower were just bad, no matter how you spin it. (Someone tried to hand-wave the cost of the maternity wardrobe by saying MM spent so much to make sure her duds were “ethically sourced” and not made in sweat shops.) Meghan is smart. I just don’t get why she doesn’t tone it down.
Her over-the-top spending comes from garbage rags like the DM. The actual amount could be one third of what they are pushing. There is nobody to stop them from printing whatever number they want, they know the palace isn’t going to say anything.
No, I think Sassy literally meant that the RF realizes that Meghan is good for their brand – they look more inclusive, she brings an energy to her events that some royals lack, she’s outgoing and vivacious – the RF realizes that Meghan looks good as a royal family member, but they don’t necessarily like her (for those same qualities or other reasons.)
I think she was actually complimenting Meghan and slamming the RF lol.
Kate is the wife to the heir. Meghan is just the wife to one of the many spares. It’s a matter of hierarchy. I know Meghan stans want to believe that she’s the most important person in the royal family but she actually isn’t. Take off your tinfoil hats once in a while, okay?
Actually Kate is wife to the heir of the heir. Don’t forget about Charles and Camilla lol. Maybe you should take off your tinfoil hat once in a while so you’ll see that there is another whole generation between William and the throne. And, no one is saying she’s the most important member…we’re reminded daily that Kate outranks Meghan. But on the note, Meghan does outrank Sophie and Sophie has access to royal jewels so…
I’m a republican so I couldn’t care less who the heir and spares really are. I think the whole useless institution should be dismantled once the queen finally dies. I was just pointing out that they obviously have a hierarchy and Kate obviously outranks Meghan, no matter how much her stans can’t deal with that.
No one has said she’s the most important person in the royal family. What we ARE saying is that this particular story seems like a mean-spirited slapdown aimed at Meghan. The story doesn’t say “no one but Camilla, and in the future Kate, has access to certain jewels.” The story makes it sound like Meghan has been demanding to wear diamonds all day every day and the queen told her no.
The fact that this story is being published now is what is so annoying, not the fact that Meghan may not be able to wear a tiara to clean the bathroom.
What if she has been demanding to wear diamonds, though? You believe every bad story about Kate and William so why not believe that some of the stories about Megan are true as well?
Becks1, I agree with you 1000%+. The REAL STORY is: “The fact that this story is being published now”. I think it has very much to do with the Royal Sussex Instagram launch and much anticipated arrival of Bay Sussex.
@ana – sure, she could be. But based on what we have seen of her personal style, and overall taste in jewelry, I just don’t feel like she is demanding to rock huge priceless necklaces every day. Even her wedding earrings, while gorgeous, were relatively understated.
And I do believe some of the stories about Meghan, and I don’t believe every bad story about Will and Kate. But nice try.
You can recognize her place in the royal pecking order and still recognize that she hit the ground running, shows genuine enthusiasm and interest in the work she does, and has generated interest in the BRF from important constituencies (the black and brown people around the world who have been colonized by Britain, and are now vitally important in the age of Brexit). It doesn’t matter if she’s married to the future king or the spare. She has done something that literally no one else in the family managed to do.
@Ana What’s up with the continued use of the words ‘stans’ when referring to people defending the Duchess of Sussex?
Everyone is well aware of Meghan’s place in the British royal family. Which includes wearing diamonds as seen fit.
@ProfPlum EXACTLY. She hit the ground running and is a good role model because of hard work and sincerely caring about the causes and people she engages with. Obviously the royals are useless and outdated, but given that they do exist, they all need to take a page out of Meghan’s book and step it up. Including the queen who always seemed pretty worthless to me, especially given her allegiance to racist Philip and pedophile-adjacent Andy (first generation American here, my family hails from one of the formerly colonized lands).
So you acknowledge that this is about Kate, not about Megan. If Megan is as insignificant as you claim, then this story was planted to show the world how important Kate is. And the only way the Queen of England can big up a future Queen of England is to tear down another woman, a woman about to give birth. The poor Queen can’t come up with a single positive thing to say about Kate. Can’t talk about how hard she works, her lovely buttons, how cheap her clothes are? Nothing? Pity.
I always thought the Queen of England was much better than that but maybe you know best.
@Ana I fully understand Meghan is not “the most important” person in the family, in terms of hierarchy, but what many of us are saying is that this doesn’t mean that she should be subject to public abuse on a daily basis.
If you can’t see the difference, I don’t know what to tell you.
This is so stupid and clearly coming from the Cambridge camp. Once again with the ‘Meghan is lower than Kate narrative.’ Like I said on a thread last week (and some people jumped down my throat) it’s a continual drumbeat of putting the black duchess in her place.
Aside from that, first, Sophie is lower rank than Meghan and she has worn tons of jewels and tiaras. Second why would the queen be telling William this?! If anyone, it would be Charles. He and Camilla are next in line and next to dole out the jewels when the queen dies. It’s like these gossipers (and Carole or the Cambs themselves) forget all about Charles and Camilla!! This is what makes me think it’s coming from the Cambridges. I wish they would just call Meghan the N word and get it over with because it’s clear that’s how they see her. No wonder Harry is fighting with William. He’s a dick.
Also, the queen gave Meghan the National Theatre patronage (which beforehand we were told by all the RRs that would only go to the next monarch) and just made her VP of the Commonwealth Trust…so yeah, not buying that the queen dislikes her.
As an “impeccably placed” outsider, I wonder if there is a nugget of truth buried in all the bullsh*t. There is a pecking order for royal jewels. Sounds reasonable. The rest of the story is the work of The Sun’s petty imagination.
For gosh sakes, Harry married a popular American. Put your big boy and girl panties on and deal with it courtiers. These “leaks” make the Royal Family look petty as can be. As hard a time as their Mother had with the press, you would think both Harry and William would put a stop to this. Unreal. Harry’s previous partners must be happy as can be that they are not the ones in the middle of a media storm. I am thinking not many people in the Royal family are very enlightened …. just like normal families everywhere.
I call BS on this article. The story is about maintaining tradition and the hierarchy, why does the Queen inform William and not Charles. Let’s be clear… William would NOT be the person the Queen would speak to, it would be Charles, so I call BS on this article. Last point, besides her wedding day and tour when has Meghan worn the Queens jewelry? To the British people your hatred of a woman in her final days of pregnancy speaks volumes to the world on the type of country you are…..keep hating but the world will continue us to embrace Meghan and Harry. Instead of this article the Brit s should be asking why the English Rose isn’t working???
I read somewhere the English Rose is on maternity leave with the American usurper, you know, to show her how it’s done and all. /sarcasm
Again, the British people do not hate Meghan. We’re a horrid country, that’s true, but that’s because of Brexit, not Meghan.
Tina you repeatedly say the British people do not hate Meghan, yet we continue to read ridiculous stories about Meghan from the British media. So who exactly is the British media audience and why would they continue to write ludicrous stories if there isn’t an appetite in Britain to “put the American” in her place. With all the hell the Brits are facing with Brexit you would think they would embrace some thing positive projected to the world. Instead all the world sees is a country that voted to change its very existence with ZERO idea of how to accomplish it and ZERO idea on how it would impact their country.. oh and for fun just pile on ridiculous story after story on a pregnant woman who is trying to do some good for the country!
Well, I mean, I don’t think people from a country whose system put Trump in place as president are really in a position to throw stones, but sure, I’ll bite. The UK press is notorious for its harshness. Particularly for the marrying-in spouses of lower ranked royals. Fergie, Sophie, they all went through it. What Meghan is going through is worse, but it’s not limited to her.
The press doesn’t write stories they think people want to read, necessarily. The royal reporters have an agenda, and that is to reinforce the royal family’s hierarchy. They write stories that are designed to do that. But the press does not necessarily reflect public opinion. The polls that we have, and the crowds that Meghan and Harry attract, indicate that they are popular amongst the people of this country.
@Casey02, BREXSHIT does not sell newspapers and is not click bait. Any negative story about the BRF or single member of the BRF sells newspapers and is click bait.
IMHO, most UK people (cannot forget about Northern Ireland) do not “hate” Meghan in the exact same way that most USA people do not “hate” Melania Trump. Most people in the USA have no opinion on the FLOTUS and really could not care less about FLOTUS for the simple reason that most USA people (outside of the fashion industry) have never thought about the FLOTUS, let alone formed an opinion.
Casey you got me curious so I looked it up. There are approximately 12 million papers sold in England, daily. (all papers combined)If you add in Scotland, Wales and NI, it goes up to 15 papers sold daily. I didn’t look for online readers. The tabloid press is only one part of that.
Please not Trump… LOL, can’t argue that but we do have a system in place that can change that after 4 years, but Brexit is a hot mess! The problem is that there isn’t a counter narrative coming out of your country or not frequent enough to keep up with the crazy stories repeatedly hitting the headlines in the U.S. and reported by legitimate US media sources. So the average American that doesn’t visit sites like this or have a dialogue with a Brit thinks the British people are attacking a pregnant woman for starting her day at 5 am and wanting freshers in church…. Like it or not it’s not a good representation. If I’m wrong where is the counter narrative with an equal voice from Britain?
We don’t have a responsibility to create a “counter narrative” for you. Any average American who thinks that the tabloid press speaks for the British people is not someone whose opinion of the UK I particularly care about. There’s plenty of UK press with a more balanced view of Meghan – the Guardian, the Independent, the BBC.
@Casey02, bear in mind, the most sensational and inflammatory sorts of stories are the ones that are going to get the most attention, for precisely the reason that they are inflammatory and sensational. This whole article about the Queen cutting off Meghan’s access to jewelry is BS–and yet the post on this website has leveraged 400 (and counting) comments. But this is what the tabloids exist to do. They exist to print fringe nonsense, with the occasional bombshell of truth mixed in, and people are well aware of this in Britain. The trouble, of course, is when the fringe nonsense becomes mainstream, as that was what happened with Brexit.
Casey, you keep saying this about the British ‘people,’ it’s is the British tabloid press. We have tabloids here in the US that talk about the moon landing being fake, that does not represent the opinions of ‘most’ people here. It really is offensive to condemn an entire country of people for the actions of just a few. Please stop.
It’s not the same. Read my post above. I’m using a broad stroke of paint for a reason. You’re more informed about what’s real than the average American. If you don’t believe me ask a friend or co-worker that doesn’t follow Meghan what they think and have heard …all negative!!
It is actually, exactly the same. You’re being extremely offensive. No one in the UK has a responsibility to cater to the prejudices that low information Americans may have. I don’t think that Fox News speaks for you, please don’t think that the Daily Mail speaks for me.
@Casey20, Most Americans have DO NOT have a problem with the fact that Meghan gets up at 5:00 am to prepare for a full day’s work. American, who follow this nonsense such as myself, DO have a problem with Royals that DO NOT GET UP AT 5:00 am to prepare for a full day’s work.
Agreed
Tina: Hopefully you get this. You know that the publications you listed Do Not come out with an opposing view. But thank you for proving my point…..there is NO opposing view which is why for those that support Meghan this AMERICAN site is a WELCOMING PLACE!!!
Just search for her name on their websites, you’ll see the positive coverage. They don’t counter every claim made in the tabloids, no, but they shouldn’t have to do that for you, Miss Casey20 (who apparently speaks for all Meghan supporters) to accept that not all British people hate her.
Royal courtiers at work ..or at play…again?
I so do not understand how the courtiers supposedly have as much power as they do. I hope NOTA chimes in and explains who on earth these people are and why they are apparently running the show. I’ve seen it said so many times that “the courtiers” are behind such-and-such, but aren’t they merely employees who take orders from their bosses? Surely they don’t have complete autonomy!
Why don’t we know any of their names, like we do with other staff members like personal secretaries? It’s like they’re this mysterious entity pulling all of the strings behind the scenes and I can’t for the life of me figure out how and why this came to be.
I don’t want to believe that all this messiness is within the family, I’d rather believe they’re like most other families with disagreements but some thread of loyalty, perhaps even more because of their rather isolated place in the world. But this article leads me to one of three conclusions:
1. The courtiers/staff/press are making this up out of whole cloth to put a wedge between what they once called “the fab four”
2. William is indeed this petty, as it says the Queen assured William that Kate has first dibs on the really good stuff, not that she told Charles, her heir and next in line to control the jewels.
3. Everyone but Harry wants to put Meghan in “her place” and he’s getting snippy, making the Queen do some interfamily damage control and it leaked out.
Given Meghan’s taste in jewelry, I don’t think she’s begging to wear the biggest brightest tiara ever made for the British royal family, if not commission a tiara all of her own, one that will surely be better than Kate’s. I just don’t see it.
No Meghan is not perfect but the big bling doesn’t fit into her way of dress. Do I think she’s looking forward to the first time since the wedding she can wear a tiara? Yep. I would. Heck if I were Meghan I’d try to see if I could wear a tiara for the baby shot outside the hospital, but that’s just me. 🙂
I always thought tiara’s looked very nice worn in grocery stores while standing in the check-out line reading The National Inquirer!
Exactly! I don’t know why they can’t be worn for every and any occasion. I have a tiara on my desk (from Halloween). I think I’m going to put it on and wear it to the next meeting. I was thinking about taking it home because it will go much better with my bathrobe as I’m doing laundry.
My nephew got married the weekend after H&M, and his wife is named Meghan. My dad (grandpa) bought her a fake tiara on Amazon, which she wore all through the rehearsal dinner. It was pretty cute, and she had a lot of fun with it.
The day they got married I went to a watch party (which was really just an excuse to drink and speak in truly bad British accents for a few hours) and wore a tiara the whole day. But my friend’s silly husband decided to wear a replica of the Pope’s “tiara” to get into the fun and it was hilarious.
Wait. Didn’t the Middletons get access to the Royal Collection furniture for their house (that William helped them buy)?
If (big IF) this is true, that’s quite the double standard.
No. Pieces from the Royal Collection aren’t for sale – to anyone. Members of the family borrow pieces, including art and furniture. I don’t know if the Middletons were allowed to borrow pieces – but certainly they would not have been sold to them. Having said that, I hope they have a gold piano just like the Queen.
I think MrsBanjo meant that William helped the Middletons buy their house, not the furniture. I’m very intrigued by this story about the Royal Collection furniture, which I had not seen before someone brought it up yesterday. Does anyone have a link?
According to the Daily Fail, Meghan & Harry were given access to the Royal Collection storage rooms and allowed to select pieces for their cottage at the Frogmore Estate.
There were stories that William saw to it the Middletons were given access to furniture from storage from one of the Royal grounds, but it was used furniture from some home used by one of the royals, but not necessarily furniture from the Royal collection.
Good lord, how can anyone not see this has Will and Kate’s hands all over it. My guess is William asked the queen stop Meghan from having access, you know, have to maintain the hierachy, for a role Will and Kate really dont even seem to want, and she approved of the decision. That’s really a nasty, petty move, and makes me think even less of them.
Yeah, this story makes it sound like William was really worried about Meghan wearing jewelry that Kate wants to wear, but hasn’t been able to yet (maybe not allowed to as she is NOT yet Princess of Wales, sorry folks), and that the Queen had to go out of her way to assure him that Kate got first dibs on things. This story doesn’t make William look great if you think about it, but any story that reminds us that Kate outranks Meghan and is the future Queen Consort pings my “Cambridge-dar.”
I actually think this was all settled before Harry and Meghan got married in terms of what she could/couldn’t borrow and she’s fine with it, KP are making an issue of it now because of the instagram thing yesterday. Reminding us that Kate is higher rank etc. And why would the Queen tell William anyway? He really thinks a lot of himself…
This sounds like a fake story. Meghan hasn’t even been to event yet where pieces from the Royal Collection would be appropriate. She has not gone to a state dinner yet, but to be fair there has only been one since she married into the family and it took place during the tour.
Supposedly the huge chandelier earrings she wore in Fiji were from the royal collection. That’s what one of those articles from last week slipped in. So she does have access.
I think they were borrowed, not from the Royal collection.
That’s what was originally reported (borrowed) but one of the articles from last week said they were from the royal collection. Not sure what’s true though.
The next pic on the sussexroyal IG account should be the Strathmore “Rose” Tiara.
I’d love that 😍😍😍
I’m hoping we’ll get an official portrait soon…that’d be hilarious if she’s wearing it in that! More likely though it’ll be to this year’s diplomatic dinner in December.
I’m making a prediction now that after the baby, they won’t let up. We’ll be treated to an endless stream of “Meghan ticked off the hospital staff by being so demanding” and “Meghan demanded her child get such-and-such title” stories starting the day after the birth. She’ll be lucky to get that one day of reprieve.
Just imagine the headlines:
Meghan didn’t pose with the baby.
Meghan did pose with the baby.
Meghan is using the wrong, diapers, strollers, hair products.
People are insane.
Yup.
“Meghan was being a diva because she dared ask for medical assistance while giving birth” is probably going to be a headline on the Fail.
Oh please Meghan was never going to have the access Kate has- which really isn’t all that much. Its not like shes attending things which would require big jewels so why would this even be something thats been discussed?
“the Queen informed Prince William that the items from the Royal Collection worn by Princess Diana would not immediately be made available to Meghan” So the rest of them are fair game!?! Di wore a miniscule amount of what the Collection actually entails.Also what the f*ck has William got to do with this? They no longer have a joint office, he’s not the future King, why is he mentioned not just once but twice?!?!
Because the story comes from him and he’s so insecure that he needs people to know how big and important he is over and over again.
I don’t think the story does come from William. I think Andrew is the source of all this drama.
Kylie, thanks for posing the Andrew theory. I could see this leak being the doings of Mr. York person.
Andrew makes the most sense to me as someone with a grudge. Meghan and Harry’s wedding had more attention that Eugenie’s. Also it seems that the stories really increased following Eugenie’s wedding and Meghan’s pregnancy announcement. The tiara story from last fall reeked of Andrew being involved. Andrew also wants to keep attention away from his association with Epstein. I think it has been Andrew the entire time.
Kylie, I think I read somewhere that Andrew is the Queen’s favorite? If so, that may be a reason she’s not speaking out on any of it in anyway.
Why would anyone from the Cambridge camp leak a story that makes William or Kate seem petty and insecure? Like it does here. William needed to be reassured by the Queen… OK. I always suspect Charles being behind the leaks based on previous form, as he hates the thought of other royals overshadowing him including his kids, but Andrew may very well be true.
I can definitely buy Andrew being behind it because he’s such a petty little bitch, but does he have enough clout with the media to actually have this smear campaign go for so long? I could be wrong but I really doubt it.
Lol, no. Andrew has nothing to do with these stories that make the Cambridges look like saints and the Sussexes like assholes.
In UK speak, what is a ‘Wine Merchant”? In USA speak a “Wine Merchant” is just a snobby more upscale tern for ‘Liquor Store Owner”.
Is not Eugenie’s husband described by the tabloid press hacks as a “Wine Merchant”?
I think they are taking something quite standard and turning it into something ugly dragging both the Queen and Meghan into it. There is a process and certain things are earmarked nothing more and nothing less.
Okay, I know I’m going to get destroyed for this but I’m asking in a spirit of honesty, good faith, and trying to educate myself. I keep seeing references to Meghan being treated poorly due to racism. But I am not seeing how it is specifically racist. Can people with more knowledge and awareness please help me to better understand?
Nowadays, people can’t come out an say racist things directly (believe me, there are times when I wish they could!) It’s in bad taste to be openly racist. Still, racist feelings and beliefs don’t go away just because they cannot be openly stated. So racist beliefs come out in different ways, in what are called “dog whistles” because while they can’t be out and out said to be racist, they communicate as loudly as a dog whistle to a dog how a person really feels. Words like “angry,” “combative” and “confrontational” directed at POC are designed to “keep you in your place” (i.e., she’s smart, but she’s “too confrontational” to get that promotion.) POC have to be adept at reading those dog whistles in order to survive in our society.
With Meghan, the courtiers and RRs use the already in-place hierarchy of the family to keep Meghan “in her place” (which to a racist means behind white people). The complaints about her so-called spending, so-called “diva behavior” (which seems to have began the moment she joined the family), “aggressive behavior” (making Kate cry) are all familiar dog whistle tropes to POC. And when a POC excels at something, the immediate response in many cases is to find some reason to punish that person for being so talented and making the status quo look bad. Case in point: all the worst criticisms of Meghan came after her successful South Pacific tour. All of us POC here (and many observant white people as well) were utterly unsurprised. We’re told to “work twice as hard and be twice as good,” to be taken seriously, but when we do just that, we’re resented for it. Meghan’s experience is textbook racism. And what’s so insidious about it is the “plausible deniability” from the racists. After all, because “racists are Nazis marching in rallies or cross-burners in white sheets,” the white people making underhanded racists comments can claim they aren’t being racist, and that “black people can’t take criticism” (tweeted by Camilla Tominey, one of the worst of the RRs who tried to link Meghan and her cookbook project to terrorism, and was praised by white supremists for doing so).
I hope that answers your question.
This helps me tremendously and I very much appreciate you taking the time to help me better understand. I realize it is these “dog whistle” type statements that I was not recognizing. Thank you.
@lanne
You are so right and the racism makes me sick in my heart.
@MattyLove (and others following this thread) To add a point…these dog whistles aren’t always a cognizant decision. Our culture / society is steeped in implicit bias, and people latch on to racist dog whistles without even realizing it.
Most people walk through life in a cloud of double standards and stereotypes and don’t realize. Racism is so ingrained in our society, that its not recognized by most people perpetuating it. That’s why we have to start focusing on impact, as opposed to intention.
For things to truly change, white people have to be willing to accept that they are likely part of the problem, read up on the issue — and the hardest part, critically evaluate how they’ve treated black people in their lives (work, etc…). Precious few people can admit that they’ve swallowed a whole lot of implicit bias over their lives — but that is the only way we get to an equal society…if people recognize their own part in it.
Honestly, this is often how racism presents. It’s typically not as blatant as a sign that says “whites only.” It’s using terms like “articulate” or “well spoken” to describe a black person, when you would never use that phrase for a white person. It’s using the word “uppity” to describe a black person who doesn’t seem to know “their place,” (when have you EVER heard that word used to describe a white person?) It’s feeling like that black person at work “took” your promotion, even though they work harder and are better at the job than you. It’s assuming that black woman from LA is from Compton. etc. It’s blasting the black duchess for her designer clothes while shrugging at the white duchess.
I don’t think every bit of criticism aimed at Meghan is because people are racist. But I do think often people need to take a step back and consider why she is getting blasted for X and Kate isn’t, or Sophie isn’t, etc.
This is absolutely what I was not recognizing at all and this will help me tremendously to begin understanding why the criticisms directed at her are often racist. Thank you!
At this point I honestly wish that they would all walk around with a scarlet “R” on their foreheads. Because these people exist and at least that way, we would know who they are up front.
They could feel free to spew their racist nonsense and we would know exactly who to ignore.
It’s not just the use of the word “uppity”–it’s when people use those words to describe black people who do simple things like “express an opinion” or “ask for what they want” or “say something in a straightforward way.” People often think black people are overreaching when they’re merely existing as others do in the world, and that is absolutely rooted in racism.
Well a lot of things that are racist aren’t spelled out as specifically racist, but they are. As a metaphor: the fact that American schools are still segregated today is racist. White parents purposely buy homes in rich, white neighborhoods to avoid the “bad schools” and by “bad schools” they mean the schools that are predominately black or Hispanic/Latino. But “they are just trying to give their kids a good education,” which doesn’t sound racist on the surface, but is actually deeply rooted in racism.
It the same with the jewelry. It might not appear racist on the surface, but it’s deeply rooted in Meghan being seen as “Other” (and that encompasses many things, including being black) and the need, as many as stated above, to put her in her place.
The fact that this has to be explained in 2019 is exhausting.
“The fact that this has to be explained in 2019 is exhausting”
THIS! I started to say something snarky in my comment below but deleted it. The thing that bugs me is the whole question from the OP. Instead of going out and doing the research yourself, it’s always asking others to educate you or explain why such and such is racist. It’s like another toll to pay as a POC. Go find the info yourself! And even couching it in “I know people are going to jump down my throat” which sets up the responders to have to be all gentle and patient and kind (not that there’s anything wrong with being those things, but you know what I mean).
The internet is huge and there are so many good articles and explanations out there at the tip of the OP’s fingers. Grrrr. Sorry, I think I have been very triggered by this whole article and some people’s responses. I’m going to go workout and destress lol.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me. As a white woman, my life has not “required” me to be aware of these things. I cannot even begin to fathom how exhausting and demoralizing having to live with these things day in and day out is, especially when there are entire sections of society that are allowed to live their daily lives blissfully unaware. I appreciate you being willing to explain this to me when it is no responsibility of yours to do so.
I would rather someone ask in good faith than just continue on their way blissfully ignorant.
I know it’s hard but if you smack people down for asking they’ll stop asking and then they’ll stop caring.
@Stripe I could not agree more. I admire the OP for asking and wanting to understand it better. And it helps all of us to read the responses.
I wish when people commented saying they want POC to answer these questions, and that they admire the OP, they would also note whether they are a POC.
@Stripe, and no one is saying questions aren’t welcome or shouldn’t be encouraged. But as Millenial pointed out, please do keep in mind that continuously having to explain again and again to people is exhausting. It’s not something to take personally, it’s just an exhaustion that comes from having to explain and defend your humanity to the whole world. That will take a toll, and while we appreciate that people are generally willing to learn, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take energy to teach about sensitive topics, especially those that take an emotional toll on people.
.
I’m laughing too because here we go again, a negative article about a 9 months pregnant woman who is on maternity leave. Trying to distract from something?🤔
The only place I ever read about Meghan being ‘too black’ is here – you’re the ones perpetrating that idea.
I guess you are not on Twitter or Tumblr?
I don’t follow anyone who writes anything like that, no. If you have examples of people saying this kind of thing I’m happy to say I’m wrong. just this site is the only place I’ve ever seen those precise two words used about her.
But that’s part of the whole point, Ariadne. You don’t have to use those specific two words to get that specific point across. Google dog whistle politics if you really are interested in learning more and aren’t just sealioning. Just because the words “too black” may not have been used doesn’t mean that’s not what they’re saying. For example how about the article describing her as “straight outta Compton” what do you think they were saying with that headline?!
I swear people just want to be intentionally obtuse.
I’m genuinely interested to see where exactly it’s been written – apart from here- that she’s ‘too black’, can you point me to anywhere?
@ROYALWATCHER I would have said lazy but you are a nicer person than I am.
No worries – I’m not surprised you are resorting to insults.
@Ariadne, they literally gave you an example of that though? The headline “Straight Outta Compton” the whole bit where they said “why do I have a niggling feeling something’s going to go wrong.” The idea that Meghan, because she’s biracial with a black mother, much have come from a gang-ridden, crime-filled neighbourhoods and ascended to new heights, even though her upbringing was definitely upper-middle class (she went to a private school ffs). The way people portray her as unusually or exceptionally difficult to get along with, to the point where she’s made people cry, even though there are plenty of people in the RF who have behaved in a much more entitled and stroppy manner but don’t get three articles written about their behaviour a day. This is what dogwhistles are. No one has to say outright that she’s “too black” but the implication is definitely there to people who are aware of these things.
Ariadne – You should check out the answers to the user who asked in the comments here how is the behavior racist. That will help you understand the microaggression and dog whistle racism towards DoS.
I might be completely ignorant on this but as someone who lives in the UK I’ve noticed a lot of people have a bit of an “ugh Americans” standpoint. Not to say the UK is not racist because they very much are, but many people I’ve met tend to think Americans are loud, brash, kinda basic, self-obsessed, and don’t understand sarcasm. That’s just the people I know though.
I’m sure many Brexiters and monarchists (I think they overlap quite a bit) are as harsh as they are because of her race primarily but I also think her being American is a big part of it.
I wonder how much longer it will be before Harry says “right, I’ve had enough “ and takes his family and just walks away from all of this nonsense? He wanted to walk away before and now that he has a family, he really doesn’t have any reason to stay. He and Meghan could continue their good works on their own terms and forget about all the “protocols “ and “hierarchy “ bs.
Oh but that’s what the British racist press would love for him to do. I doubt he will.
Also just because he walked away that wouldn’t stop the British press negative bashing of Harry and Meghan.
Yep, and they really want Harry & Meghan gone because their popularity cannot be denied and that’s the heart of the matter. Harry walking away would also give the British press the freedom to pursue and stalk H&M relentlessly without the protection of the palace.
Then who will be their fall guy?
how does one leave the royal family? especially someone like prince harry
That’s hilarious that you think he would ever walk away from his tax payer funded lifestyle.
Harry is quite wealthy in his own right, so he could leave, move to Africa and live a very nice life. I don’t thing Harry would miss all the pomp and circumstance one bit.
Exactly. He will never do that. And it’s not just the wealth, it’s the privilege and protection her receives. Like with any royal, and other than a couple of saucy stories the media always held back a bit when it comes to stories about his antics. There is a lot more that was unreported, and any leaks are tactical, the court and the media weigh on what gets published. Once he’s out of the royal family, he’s fair game. And I’m 100% sure he’d rather put up with tiara drama for the next 50 years.
Harry is staying for his father and the Queen, after they’re gone I can see him and Meghan leaving.
Yup, the minute William becomes King, H&M are out of there.
Watched a BBC program on PBS Encore last night titled “Charles at 70”. There was an extensive interview with both Bill & Harry discussing the PoW. The interview totally changed my perception of the individual relationship each prince has with father. I would be very interested to know the true state of the relationships. I think the dynamic of the Royal Family is very bizzaro and that most of the tabloid hack Royal Reporters either do not know what they are talking about or just make up stories to print black marks on white paper, attract clicks and collect a pay check.
@BayTampaBay. What are your opinions on the individual relationships?
@Silas Marner, Just from what I watched last night on “Charles at 70”, IMHO, Billy Cambridge seems to have a difficult if not very difficult relationship with his father and Harry seems to just get on with it and move forward by ignoring the negative in Charles while praising, appreciating and concentrating on the good. Do not want to go into more as comment could be deleted.
I’m trying to think if I’ve ever seen Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice wear Crown Jewels (other than Eugenie’s Wedding). And, I *think* when W&K got married, TQ pulled like 6 tiaras and was like: pick one of these (meaning, K didn’t have all options open to her). I also think TQ kind of “assigns” jewelry to royal family members, according to rank, that’s why we see them wear the same ones over and over again.
Look, M is still learning how all this works: she’s basically the wife of the Vice President for life. The only “job” is to support the Crown, keep the RF intact. It’s going to be tricky when Charles becomes king. The republicans will rev up. TQ is putting things in place so they don’t F it all up. She had the Commonwealth vote Charles in BEFORE she died because she didn’t trust him to secure the votes. I tend to believe there is a bigger picture here.
TQ apparently did the same thing for H&M re the wedding tiara. There was an audio guide to the wedding dress exhibition where H&M talk about going to BP to meet with her and select one of the tiara options that were there for Meghan to look at. She chose the Queen Mary bandeau, and Harry agreed it looked the best on her.
In the tiara gate story the other day, I linked the Town and County article from last October that talked about this, but for some reason that comment vanished.
That’s exactly what happens. The Queen (or one of her staffers, such as Angela Kelly), probably confers with the person in question about what they’re going to be wearing to the wedding, and maybe some general stuff about what they like in their jewelry (clean lines vs something fancy, coloured stones vs just diamonds or pearls etc), and picks a bunch of potential options for someone to choose from.
If this is true, I doubt it is punishment rather a matter of protocol!
This is a piece of gossip designed for the tiara crowd and their Royal jewlery blogs who obsess over this stuff. People who can’t fathom that Meghan likely cares very little about being able to wear tiaras. So those buy into this stuff. There is probably some archane rule about who wears what that isn’t specific to Meghan, but if gossip is based in some truth then it appears William did go to the Queen and demand that Kate is the only one that gets to cosplay as Diana.
In terms of those mentioning Megan’s maternity wear spending being the reason behind this.. Suits seems to have done really well as far as viewership goes. Wouldn’t she be getting some royalty payments from the show? I just feel like a lot of the money could have come from what she accumulated herself from Suits and, other deals Reitmans I think.. ?
“Even if Meghan is the most popular woman in the world, she is of a lower rank than Kate.”
They’re blatantly saying this is about Meghan having more popular appeal than Kate. The dog whistles have become sirens.
And they miss the point. Meghan is a fascinating woman thus the interest. It’s as if the Brits are telling the world….but look at Kate, she has a higher rank, so you must be more interested in her!!
@Casey, how would you feel if people here constantly referred to Fox News as “the Americans,” stating that “the Americans” said x horrid thing today.
@Tina, I would 100% understand it as the people of UK have every right to be upset by things said by Fox News and a certain American office-holding politician. I myself am very upset by things said by Fox News and a certain American office-holding politician regarding the UK and all other nations of EU.
As a Brit I can say that most of us don’t care about class and status, I hate the whole class system we have 8n the U.K. it’s the old school media dinosaurs getting their silk panties in a knot about it. And it’s mostly driven by Piers Morgan who does not like Meghan.
Digital Unicorn, I have some very good friends from Norfolk, UK and they spend six months a year in Florida. We have discussed the “class system” several times over drinks, shrimp & steaks. The class system in the USA is based #1 on how much money you make or have and #2 on personal achievement. If you both #1 and #2 then you are on the top of the heap. If you only have #1 or only have #2 then it is a toss-up when you will land in the hierarchy. According to my friends from Norfolk UK, the UK class system is entirely different. To answer your next question: Yes, my friends from Norfolk, UK get tired of hearing or talking about money and what a person does for a living.
Tina: There so many opposing views that have an equal voice to Fox news in the US. Where can we find an equal and opposing view about the DoS coming out of GB????
Are you sure about that? Where do many of your voters, who tend to be elderly, get their news? Where does your president get his news? And there are plenty of UK outlets that provide more balanced coverage of Meghan. The Guardian, the Independent and the BBC, to give a few. Not to mention the other TV channels like ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, which love a syncophantic documentary about the royals. But as you might be aware, most of us are not really focused on Meghan right now. The serious papers aren’t giving her a lot of attention because we have much bigger things to worry about.
Tina, our president gets his news from his own Twitter feed. He may possibly consider Princess Ivanka’s tweets as well if he’s in a good mood. He’s not an example of anything in any reasonable conversations (can’t wait until 2020….)
@Heather, oh I’m not suggesting that Trump is any kind of person to emulate in any way. But he apparently does watch Fox News all day: https://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/18275835/fox-news-trump-propaganda-tom-rosenstiel
@Tina of course he does. I hear they give him unadulterated praise and defense. Totally agree that he is a mold that should be broken and thrown away.
This part is a clever back-door out for this story: “That’s not to say items won’t be loaned to Meghan in the future if situations change.” Soo in other words when Meghan DOES where a piece of the Royal collection in the future it does not mean that she was indeed ever banned from wearing pieces in the past. There’s no way of knowing if Meghan is right now really banned because she could end up wearing pieces again.
Honestly, I found that to be one of the weirdest lines in the whole article. Meghan’s situation wont change. She’s married to the brother of the future king. Maybe it just meant when Charles and then William become king, because Harry will “move up” the line (so when Charles becomes King Harry is 5th in line again, right? and being the daughter in law of the king is different than the granddaughter in law of the queen).
but it almost reads like there’s a chance Meghan is going to be princess of wales. I am SURE that is not what was meant, but at my first read through I thought, “what a weird line to put in.”
I think with “situation” they mean Queen E’s alleged crossness with Meghan.
@anna – that makes sense overall; it was just kind of a weird line to throw in right after the bit about Kate outranking Meghan. I was like, “is that going to change…….”?
(obviously its not and it shouldn’t, it just threw me for a second, you know?)
Has it been really truly proven and/or acknowledged that QEII is cross with Meghan or are we just taking the Sun’s & Daily Fails’s word on it?
@BayTampaBay : Of course, it has NOT been proven that QUII is cross. But that’s exactly the point. With that last line about “situations might change and Meghan might than wear pieces of the Royal collection again” there IS NO WAY of ever knowing for sure that the Queen is angry at Meghan. So the whole story is a very cleverly worded IMO. The story is both clever and vicious.
@Anna, in other words this is a story with lettuce, tomato, pickles but NO meat, lol. Plus, I read that when Meghan and Harry got back from Morocco the Queen was supposedly so pleased with the job they did that she was going to write them some type of letter or commendation. Now I am American so I have no idea what that means or even if said letter was written, but the articles made it sound like this was some type of rare honor from the queen. I’m not sure that anything has happened since then that would make her so cross that she would “deny access to the jewelry!” to Meghan. So again, this is made up BS, taking nothing and making it a bigger nothing.
I have enjoyed most of the royal gossip here (tho I came for celebrity gossip) … but this stuff is depressing. If the importance of class and heredity across the nation is validated by the RF, for that reason alone it’s not worth it, it seems. Grandfather-in QE and Charles, then on his death mourn him and mourn the ending of the monarchy. I wonder what portion of their wages Americans give to charity compared to what British people do? I mean, these royals, whose main “work” is shilling for charities, are they even good shills?
Question: How much jewelry did Sarah (Fergie) get to wear from the royal collection?
Diana was the princess of Wales and was set to be Queen Consort. Kate is also in line to be Queen Consort. Whether you like it or not, there is a ranking system in the royal family. And Kate outranks Meghan. It has nothing to do with personalities, or pettiness, or “mom likes me best”.
I wish the idiotic comparisons would just stop.
If I recall Sarah usually wore the tiara that was specially made for her own wedding so not a preexisting part of the royal collection
Also she was only really part of the royal family for 5-6 years before they separated, so didn’t have a ton of opportunity to wear stuff?
This has good info
http://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2018/10/sarah-duchess-of-yorks-diamonds.html
Sarah also often wore the middle size Queen Victoria Bow brooch (there are three bow brooches in this collection). I assume the QEII lent her this brooch as it IS part of the Royal Collection per Leslie Fields.
Sarah wore a tiara that was specifically made for her, but bear in mind, Diana didn’t exactly have access to the big stuff in the vault either. Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother were still alive at the time, and both of them had access to stuff from the royal collection that we now see on Camilla and Kate. A lot of the bigger, more magnificent pieces that Camilla wears currently were the Queen Mother’s. We can’t really know what would have happened if Diana and Fergie hadn’t gotten divorced tbh.
The one significant piece of jewelry that Diana wore from the royal collection was her Lover’s Knot tiara, and she didn’t like it much since it was heavy and gave her a headache. She’d borrow her own family’s Spencer tiara because it was lighter and easier to wear, until she supposedly got into an argument with her brother because rightfully speaking, it belongs to the family and not Diana and should have really been worn by the Countess of Spencer. Kate has 3 tiaras now–the Lover’s Knot, which was Dianas, the Cartier Halo, which was Princess Margaret’s, and the Lotus, which was also Princess Margaret’s.
Sigh.
The Sussexes launch their official instagram account.
Said account breaks a world record for number of followers etc.
This points to the enormous global popularity of the Sussexes.
People who are annoyed, jealous and insecure about their popularity, ie. William who is named apropos of nothing in this article, run to the media with another smear about putting Meghan in her place.
It’s getiing very predictable y’all. If I were the Queen I would be annoyed by this as it makes her look like a jerk. Even if this were remotely true she wouldn’t want this leaked to the press.
And the positive PR about the #GlobalSussexBabyShower was followed a day or two later by an article about Meghan being “made aware” that her NYC baby shower was too much.
It would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic.
The woman married a Prince. If you buy into there being a special class of people called Royalty then I don’t think you can complain when someone who is in that class acts like royalty by loving the perks. If they are princesses, and you think it is okay for them to be singled out in that way, and all that fabulous jewelry and artistry is hidden away in a vault where no one can enjoy it, let them wear it. Any time they want to. Any time.
Sometimes I think Andrew has more to do with all this clatter than Kate and William. HE wants to keep Meghan in her place and make sure she’s not getting access to stuff his daughters aren’t. That’s just my speculation.
Andrew, Andrew.
He’s a special case isnt he?
I was too young for the drama with him and Fergie.
I will need to look up his back stories.
Originaltessa, you make a very good point regarding Andrew.
Interesting idea and others felt he was behind the original story over the tiara Eugenie wanted to wear on her wedding day. Could be why TQ is not interfering, he’s her fave.
Neither Andrew or the Yorks really benefit from anti Meghan stories that prop up William and Kate. The Yorks are never mentioned in these stories yet we’ll hear nonsense about Kate never putting a wrong foot. Or Kate’s married to the heir like we need to be reminded because we like Meghan so much.
This anti Meghan campaign is coming from Carole or William and Kate.
@Mego The summary of these stories are always H&M clashing with W&K, or M and K clashing, or W and H clashing, or any combination really. The perceived weaknesses of all four are shown up. Meghan is supposedly demanding and power hungry, Harry seems like a sulking wet blanket, William is meddling and tyrannical, Kate is insecure. With the whole of UK caught up in the explosive diarrhoea that is Brexit, stories about their inner squabbles over tiaras, mansions, titles and pecking order do not prop up any of them. But they do serve as a fantastic distraction from other royal stories.
Anitas, did you mean “other royal stories” of “other national stories”.
Anits’s – the one’s I read mostly prop up William and Kate. Albeit in a hamfisted and obvious way but still reminding everyone that Wiliiam and Kate are better than Harry and Meghan. I would believe that Andrew leaked the tiara story for stealing focus at Eugenie’s wedding but that would be it.
It makes a lot more sense to be him, but William and Kate have generated so much bad will that it’s much more satisfying to think it’s them.
My very basic understanding of this is that the Queen dictates when women in the royal family can wear jewelry from the Royal Collection and what pieces they can select. Isn’t this basically restating that fact again but making it sound needlessly dramatic? Maybe Meghan just hasn’t been to an event recently that called for such jewelry?
I just assume 90% of these articles are completely fabricated.
I think this story was leaked to distract from the Rose Hanbury cheating rumors about William.
Impeccable royal source? Carole Middleton with a glass pressed against the wall of the Queen’s private office? ‘Validated’ by Kaiser Bill over baked beans and cocoa?
LOL!!!
It’s cheese on toast while he’s watching the telly.
No! Over CHEESE TOAST and cocoa.😄
This totally sounds like a Harry v William thing.
Don’t worry, William. Meghan won’t wear your mommy’s royal jewelry…
I’m starting to wonder if William isn’t actively racist.
I’ve always gotten the vibe that Kate and Wills are very MAGA-esque.
For a while I got the vibe that William does like Meghan personally — I remember seeing a video of him greeting her incredibly warmly as they were entering an event — but he cannot handle her that her popularity has surpassed that of the Cambridges. She’s more popular than Kate AND has a far better work ethic. She exposes W&K’s laziness and he probably knows that Kate does not fare well in comparison.
Plus, Harry is so clearly blissfully in love with her while William seems to merely tolerate Kate. I believe William loves Kate, but I don’t think he’s in love with her and he definitely doesn’t respect her. William must be jealous of Harry and Meghan’s relationship. (And I wouldn’t even blame him; it’s only natural and must be hard to see sometimes.)
If Meghan had married some other random member of the family, a cousin or something, I don’t think he’d care and he might have an excellent relationship with her. But the dynamics prevent it.
I don’t think they’re quite that bad, but I do think they engage in the sort of casual racism that is emblematic of their upper-class aristocratic crowd. The sort of racism that doesn’t see much wrong with things like a Colonials party, or a Nazi costume, etc. On the face of it, they’d never accept that they are racist and they’d say that they abhor all sorts of discrimination…all while hobknobing with their fellow UKIP supporting peers and other Brexiters and people of their ilk.
A – Everything you just said qualifies as “MAGA-esque” to me. 🙂
The Republicans I know are all upper-middle class finance / professional folks, who insist they’re not racist (they are), who would fit in perfectly with Will and Kate.
This is very specific, but everything you all have said is true apart from the UKIP part. Aristos don’t support UKIP, that’s a bit déclassé for them. There’s more than enough room for the Boris Johnsons and the Jacob Rees-Moggs of the UK in the Conservative party. They’d be appalled at the suggestion that they were UKIP or MAGA, when in reality those policies are precisely what they’d like to enact.
@Tina, there are definitely aristocrats who openly support UKIP. The Duke of Rutland is one very high profile example. He’s hosted fundraisers for them at his family pile, and I still remember how all of his daughters were openly in support of Brexit in the lead up to the referendum. I doubt they’ve changed their minds.
There are definitely others who either support UKIP, don’t mind what they have to say, or are chummy and friendly with people who have no issues supporting UKIP. If they’re not actively speaking against racism within their friend groups, then I’d suppose they’re quite okay with those views as well.
Oh, I mean I definitely agree that there are lots of aristos who support UKIP’s views and the vast majority of them are pro-Brexit, but most of them wouldn’t align themselves with the party. The Duke of Rutland is more morally bankrupt than most of them (which is saying something).
Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck. It is a duck and his feathers are ruffled.
Exactly.
Take a look at the painting in their living room when the Obamas visited them. It shows a little black boy as a slave servant to his white owners. That’s what’s hanging on their walls in their house.
I wonder if it was purchased at the shop where Princess Michael got her Blackamoore broach?
So a duchess about to give birth and be home with her child for the foreseeable future and won’t have any reason to wear fancy jewels is coincidentally banned from wearing said fancy jewels until some time in the future if “circumstances change” like the new circumstance that she’d be ready to go to an event that calls for fancy jewelry and voila she’s back allowed to wear the fancy jewelry again 🙄🙄🙄 ohhhkay
Exactly this.
And will it be juuuust in time for the State Dinner in the fall, when she’s back from Maternity Leave?
I bet the queen gives Meghan a parure (tiara, bracelet, brooch, ring, necklace) as a push present.
Another day another story about Meghan being put in her place so called sources close to the palace I can’t believe people are still convincing this has nothing to do with Meghan race . All this Meghan being put in Her place she can’t wear jewelry she demanding is all dog whisperer racial coded language Kate was never subject to this type of abuse by the press during her three pregnancy for the moment Meghan announced her pregnancy she has been hit with nothing but negative hateful campaign against her. I think that the British press and the trolls had in their mind that Meghan couldn’t get pregnant because of her age and their biases towards her they had story ready to print about Meghan can’t give Harry what he wants a baby for years to come. It’s took the wind of them that they were wrong and no matter what happens their will be a another biracial person in the royal family for life who is born royal and they can’t handle that .I think that William is behind some of the stories because he feels threatened by Meghan and Harry popular and in a lot ways William is just like Charles petty and jealous in all the negative stories about Meghan Kate is always being referred to as the perfect future queen while Meghan is being referred to as a demanding out control greedy woman who out to destroy the crown. And William is being referred as the perfect older brother who is seeking council for senior advisory to make sure his younger brother is being lookafter . In all the stories their are two people who always painted as the most perfect future queen and king who never done anything wrong who always been about duty and service this whole time even though it took them both eight years to be full time royal.
William is just going all in on the smear campaign. What exactly is going on in Norfolk that he’s trying to hide? Does William not care at all for his relationship with his brother? Because this is William and the House of Cambridge siding with the very Grey Men that made life difficult for Diana. This is William/Carole using their contacts to continuously bash his brother’s wife using every microaggresive, racist, classist angle they can. It’s disgusting. It’s infuriating. It was to be expected, but not sustained as it’s been. This isn’t about tiaras because Kate isn’t getting access to certain tiaras anyway because Camilla is the future Consort/Princess of Wales, Anne is alive and kicking, and Sophie is the Queen’s favorite. This is about William being a petty man and bully. Shame on him.
ETA: As someone said above, it’s really does seem that William is a racist. I forgot you can say you love Africa, but still believe you are better than its native people. William may be more like his ancestors than I gave him credit for.
This is not about the Queen saying no more access to any royal jewels. Just not one associated with Diana. It is Petty af and is about their fear Meghan’s popularity will eclipse theirs.
Guys….
DM headline: Kensington Palace spends £15,000 extending massive 950ft-long hedge ‘to block the public from watching royals flying in and out by helicopter’
So THAT’S what this is all about.
Distraction, distraction..
I just wanted to take a minute to name why this is all rooted in racism, as I think some people still think of racism as the KKK and bad words — as individual acts of meanness. That’s only part. Racism is a system and a socialization that we’re all indoctrinated into. Researchers say that we develop strong racial opinions by the time we enter 1st grade, and they just keep growing. You can be the most liberal of liberals, and still swallow and regurgitate racism — and not realize it!
And one of those “racist things” is framing black women as inappropriate and arrogant and uppity or uncouth…whatever the situation calls for. And why it’s racist is because white people see and HEAR black women through tainted lenses and wonky hearing-aides. So, like, it’s quite possible that Meg said something as innocent as “Wow, those jewels are beautiful! I’d love to wear a piece one day.” And what “they” heard is: “Give me, give me, give me! Me! I’m the most important best!” This is real. Social researchers have done studies and found that white people simply either ignore WOC or “negatively misinterpret” (best phrase I can come up with right now…still waking up…) what is said.
And most WOC probably have lots of stories about this. Because we can see it when it’s happening…in slow motion. And it is outrageously frustrating. Day in. Day out.
This is fascinating and most likely right. LIke the article the other day where Charles had to tell Meghan no she couldn’t wear a tiara on the Oceania tour. Eye roll. The tone was condenscending. And all that probably happened was “so we’ve scheduled a state dinner for you overseas.” “Do I have to/get to wear a tiara?” “No.” “Great. Thanks.”
I don’t know when one would wear a tiara or not. Most people don’t. There’s this expectation that Meghan, as an American outsider not raised to this (whatever this is, but I’ve read that phrase), automatically should know everything and if she doesn’t it’s because she’s lazy, stupid, greedy, gauche, name an unflattering adjective, I bet it’s been written/said about her. Everything but the N word (in the press, I’m sure its on social media, vomit), but meaning everything including the N word.
I think that people assume a lot about Meghan that her actions don’t back up.
She wore the most unimbellished, plain wedding gown I’ve ever witnessed in order to highlight a train that had been embroidered with the symbols of the Commonwealth Countries that she was eager to serve. Suddenly this person is hungry for jewels and tiaras! C’mon!
Why would the Queen address William on the issue, I could see her addressing this matter with Charles/Harry directly…BS
Dear wandering big Willy, we see you. Nothing you do or say including assuring Kate that only she has access to Diana’s jewellery, assuring her that she is the next Princess of Wales etc etc will take away or distract from the fact that your willy has wandered into Rose’s posh garden.
You’re not very bright. Neither are the people you’ve hired. So just stop. Get some ‘work’ done and lay off Harry and Meghan. ‘William Rose gate’ will be broken and the there will be nothing you can do to stop it.
I sincerely hope that as we speak, Vanity Fair is working on a huge expose re: William’s infidelity.
Lorelei, I cannot wait to read that one and Lady Colin Campbell’s next book!
👏🏼
Am I the only one who’s amused that this post is over 300 comments!!??!!
The average number of post/comments on a online Daily Fail story about Meghan is 3.5K.
I’m so so exhausted by the constant streams of negative articles regarding Meghan. Do we think that once the baby is here, that they’ll calm down? I just don’t understand it.
Kate was loaned jewellery right from the start but they were smaller items. For her first tour, she wore the Queen’s Canadian brooch.
Meghan has also had meaningful gestures through jewellery. She wore Diana’s ring, her earrings, and Jacinda Arden’s gift when signing the condolence book.
I’m guessing the Queen may have set some boundaries like this simply to delineate which jewelry was for the next queen, her successor, etc., but someone in the Palace or press put a very nasty spin on it.
The Queen can only dictate who gets to wear what while she’s still alive. After her death, it will entirely up to Charles to decide.
Well most of us projected this would happen in the wake of Turniptoffgate to take the heat off the scandal of William’s alleged dalliance with, and Kate’s vapourizing of, Rose Hanbury. The clock started ticking right away on the next Meghan-bashing because the Cambridge/Middleton camp has managed to turn brother against brother. I think Meghan and Harry should simply distance themselves from them as much as possible, enjoy new parenthood out of the spotlight, and continue to soldier on with heads held high.
Turniptoffgate is not over yet. Everyone is waiting on the next installment. I do not think the Marquess of Cholmondeley and his wife are suffering this in silence among their set of aristos. I am sure the title aristocracy does not appreciate the Royal Family dragging them into the tabloids.
With every one of these stories I believe more and more that W&K have nothing to do with the leaks because it is so heavy handed pitting them against each other. And if you were trying to throw someone under the bus you would not constantly draw attention to yourself. And William has done this before and it wasn’t obvious. While we have seen tension with the brothers, we haven’t with Kate and Megan. In fact the ladies seem to quiet like each other and get along. Also the over the top propping Kate feels like whoever is doing this is trying to cause issues between the women.
IMO I think all these reports are coming from Andrew- hiding his scandals and because he is mad his child’s wedding wasn’t important. I also think a lot of these smaller moves that have been made huge is because the Queen is not doing well and they are prepping for Charles to be king- when that happens Andrew loses his security of mom and Charles hates him so if the world thinks Charles’ children are being immature and trying to destroy each other Andrew is more “needed.” I also think Megan is the focus because 1. Racism 2. She is new (sort of typical) 3. Andrew knows the next POW and family is protected more so then the spare.
I also think Charles is also doing this because he wants to be more popular and so causing issues with his son’s making the world think William is attacking Megan makes him look loving and stable and has caused issues for his kids.
Finally I think the palace staffs are involved because they do not want the monarchy to change or update- they did this with the Queen too (per the crown). So divide and conquer the younger generation.
I know that everyone here is convinced that it is the Cambridges but this seems so heavy handed and this article doesn’t make them look good. But I just feel like all sides know the reaction to this so if the Cambridges were doing this for their popularity they would shut it down, they would stop leaking, etc. Their silence doesn’t make me think they are leaking (because they don’t look good) but that they are trying to avoid the fray because of something going on with WIlliam.
I think Andrew, Charles and the palace staffs are taking true things spinning them and making it look like the brothers are leaking and the press who is desperate to distract from Brexit on a global level is pushing the young royals.
It’s clearly the Cambridges. They are the ones threatened by the Sussexes’ popularity.
It clearly isn’t the Cambridges! I mean anyone who is looking at it without a fave in the fight can see that all these stories make all 4 look bad. ALL FOUR. And who gains with that ? Well the staff keeps their way of life. Charles looks more stable and ANdrew and his family aren’t being questioned about Epstein or the million of other disgusting these he’s been up too.
If you want to believe its the Cambridges when there is clear evidence that at least Kate and Megan get along (you wouldn’t be so friendly if you were threatened, attacking or being attacked) go for it but it is insanely obvious it is not the Cambridges.
With regards to people in the USA, Eugenie’s wedding did not receive much press coverage because she married a non-entity. Several of my friends came over to my house and watch it live on Lifetime Channel as we did all other Royal weddings. We drank expensive coffee and ate expensive French pastries.
List of weddings:
Anne-First major Royal wedding since 1960. Not televised live on US TV to my knowledge but lots of interest covered heavily in magazines.
Charles 1st Trip-Everyone followed this courtship for a year. Gangbuster ratings.
Andrew-Everyone followed this courtship and loved Fergie’s curly red hair. Could not wait to see her dress. Gangbuster ratings.
Edward-People watched because they wanted to see what all the celebrity/royal guest and what the guest were wearing. Decent ratings.
Charles 2nd Trip-People had to see to believe (after the Edward VIII fiasco) the PoW marrying a divorcee. Gangbuster ratings.
William-Everyone followed this courtship for 10 fracking years. Gangbuster ratings.
Harry-He married an American. People had to see this to believe one our own was being thrown on the Royal Crown Jewel refuse pile and what Oprah would be wearing. Gangbuster ratings
Your theory is interesting
@B, my vote is the palace staffs option.
Angela Kelly, the Queen’s Personal Advisor for Jewelry, Insignias, and Wardrobe (I just googled it-that is her title), or someone who works directly with Angela Kelly, has GOT to be the palace source of the tiara/jewelry stories, also probably the hatless Meghan story.
I bet she’s taken a strong personal dislike to Meghan, maybe due to the wedding tiara process, and is going hog wild on leaking stories. She IS the person that the rest of the family would have to deal with to get access to the royal jewels.
More on Angela Kelly. https://www.vogue.com/article/queen-elizabeth-angela-kelly-london-fashion-week
Oh now see that i didn’t know. That is interesting. Yeah I think the staff really hates the younger people and especially Megan.
Although I still feel Andrew just because the weddings upstaging Eugine (or whatever daughter got married) and then the pregnancy being announced and stealing whatever new cycle his family had. People kept acting like it was no big deal but I think it bothered some people.
I agree with this. Everyone was trying to figure out the source of the first Tiara story and thinking it was Andrew, but Angela Kelly is the one who literally hands out the options.
This story is dumb. Why can’t people just let her live instead of trying to drag her down all the time?
Kate didn’t have access to a lot of royal jewelry in her first years of Duchess-ing either. So no story here.
Kate did very little her first year and still does very little
The story has Will’s fingerprints all over it.
My take-away from this story: the meltdown of William’s marriage continues.
Excellent take-away. Waiting on Vanity Fair take-down!
WHy do you seem happy about that?
@B —
Because maybe I’m a modern woman? And I don’t think a man should treat his wife like cr@p just because he is the wealthier/more powerful spouse in the marriage. And I don’t believe happiness will come if a woman can patiently wait around for 10 years while her boyfriend scr@ws around behind her back, and if she keeps her mouth shut and doesn’t express an opinion about anything, and starves herself to try to be perfect for him, and basically allows herself to used as a doormat. William’s treatment of Kate shows he has no respect for women, which I don’t like about him. And William seems to have a real disdain for the very public that supports him (like when he lied about military “duties” he had to perform, but actually took off for a vacation — as if even the little “work” he does is still more than he is willing to do). And I think William is secretly (or maybe not so secretly) a racist, but we’re supposed to believe that the uppity WOC is the real problem in the family? Now, you may ask, “what does that have to do with his marriage?” But I believe he uses his doormat — I’m sorry, I meant wife — as a publicity stunt or “cover” that is supposed to convince us he is a stable family man, and also as a scapegoat to cover up his own laziness. If he didn’t have that, people might get a better look at who William really is.
This story is disgusting, but it’s actually a very positive development. It is a honeypot that will drive the rot responsible for the smears on Meghan into the the light of day because it attributes very specific actions and motives to HM.
If it is false or even misleading, there must be a strong denial because of the terrible optics of singling out the only POC to deny access to the imperial plunder (as others rightly pointed out above). Presumably heads would roll for forcing HM into this position.
If there is no denial, there will be no recovering from this grotesque miscalculation on the part of HM. She was forgiven for missteps after Diana’s death and has been given the benefit of the doubt since then. If she is revealed to actually be an oblivious fossil, can anyone picture Charles, Will and Kate keeping the institution going?
I’m so much more inclined to give the “impeccable source” the benefit of the doubt here, because it’s entirely likely that they were just having a normal conversation about who wears which jewels and why, and the reporter chose to obfuscate that into the some ugliness.
Otherwise, if there is a source close to the Queen who’s peddling this BS, then they’re going to have to answer a lot of questions in the next few days, I imagine.
The third-party non-denial denial in VF is an interesting start, but it is not sufficient for this to go away. If this ugliness was contrived by a reporter on their own initiative it warrants a very stern rebuke from official sources, if not a lawsuit if there is no mea culpa and public retraction. In the absence of those actions, we can only assume
1) HM very well knows the one or more sleazy family members behind this false smear against a WOC about to give birth, and she chooses to continue coddling them rather than defending Meghan, or
2) She really is the oblivious fossil the story conveys and only changed her mind once the public reaction made her aware of the racist connotations.
So unless there is a stern official rebuke of the reporter, this still looks bad for HM and the institution of the BRF.
Stay strong, Meghan. You continue to do you.
I just cannot believe the level of abuse she has to deal with everyday. I’m starting to really hate the BRF.
On a diff note: They’re at 3.6M followers now on insta.
“I’m starting to really hate the BRF”
Yes – this is the outcome if the story is not directly and adequately addressed.
But they almost never address these things head on. They just don’t.
Too bad. Woe to them if they don’t make rallying protectively around a highly pregnant WOC and close member of the family one of the “almost never” exceptions. No more business as usual respecting their “traditions”.
And if it worsens the attacks on her? Didn’t Harry already send a terse letter and it *did* worsen the attacks?
This is William leaking, meanly. They could just speak to him and 70% of this would stop.
Does someone like Autumn Philips have access to the Royal collection? The monarchy is all about hierarchy and the wives of the grandsons may not have access to it?
I doubt it, of course the Royal collection is more than tiaras but the only instance I can find of Autumn wearing a tiara was at her own wedding – and it was the Festoon tiara that Princess Anne wore at her (first) wedding in the 1970s.
Autumn Philips isn’t a working royal so no she wouldn’t wear crown jewels.
Autumn Philips has access to whatever Princess Anne has access to. Same with Zara Tindall. Both of them wore tiaras that are at Princess Anne’s disposal for their respective weddings, which were the Greek Key, and the Festoon.
Aside from that, unless they choose to buy tiaras for their personal collections, I don’t think they will. You might see them in tiaras for Prince Charles’ coronation, maybe, but that’s the only occasion I can think of where that might happen.
I’ve now finally sifted through the over 300 comments on the site and it’s made for entertaining reading. The way I’m seeing this, Kate as future PssOW and QC gets access to all the iconic jewels earmarked for her position. Diana wore jewels slated for her rank such as the Cambridge Lovers Knot tiara. That was not her personal property, but that of the Crown/royal collection. Or maybe it’s personal property of the Queen, who loaned it to Diana for her lifetime. I’m not sure. Meghan will have access to other pieces in the royal collection as do the other royal ladies, all according to rank. It is a matter of who wears the big guns and who doesn’t. This is how it’s always been; we’ve never seen Kate et al wear the GGBI tiara that the Queen wears exclusively. Kate has worn the CLK as well as the Lotus tiara which may be earmarked for her. I don’t expect Meghan ever will wear those or the Vladimir, the Boucheron or the Delhi. Those are all Queen Regnant/Queen Consort tiaras. Camilla now wears the Boucheron and the Delhi for those glittering occasions and I expect she will in future as QC. In time, so will Kate if she chooses to do so. And I’m sure more of the heavyweight jewels may come out of the vault for the exclusive use of the QC/PssOW.
So basically what Diana has worn as PssOW, Kate will wear. Maybe that’s an oversimplification but it’s NO SHOCK! But the spin is that because Meghan has been a naughty girl and has caused the Queen’s displeasure, she is denied what she couldn’t have worn anyway. What a Gordion knot of obfuscation by the press that’s just making the RF look petty, small and mean. And a nine-month pregnant woman is still leaving them in the dust.
Looks like the English Rose only works if the DoS works….she’s on Maternity Leave because she needs a break and rest for what’s to come!!
MAN. I’m just bummed I don’t have time to read the over 400 comments this post has!! LOL
My eyes glazed over trying to find my small comment from around 180 comments in….can’t find it so I just said:
Leave her alone and shesh with these story’s they are coming out with! She’s about to give birth and I have a few times….the first time is stressful and scary.
Katie Nicholl has a Vanity Fair article out that basically calls this story BS!
Probably because the story makes the Queen sound petty and mean otherwise she wouldn’t bother.
Exactly
Welp it looks like we all wasted a lot of time today on this for no reason! 🙃
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/04/meghan-markle-borrowing-the-queens-jewelry
Well. That is a super quick update.
Thanks for the link.
It also shows we need to take their “impeccably placed” sources with a huge grain of salt.
I have a feeling that THIS is the Queen’s response to dragging her into petty tabloid bullshit. The Queen of England has better things to do than to involve herself in hateful, COMMON attacks on her grand-daughter-in-law. The Queen likes Megan and LOVES Harry. Harry was a favourite of the Queen Mother There is no way on earth that Her Majesty would use jewelry associated with Diana to hurt Harry’s wife and break Harry’s heart.
This REEKS of Normal Bill and Katie Keen. Normal Bill has been spending way too much time with the Middletons and they are THIS common. They’re so desperate to cover up the Cambridges’ country hi-jinks that they forgot that dragging Diana into this mess is a bad idea. Harry is Diana’s son too. The Queen would never use her memory to lash out at Harry’s pregnant wife.
A lot of people don’t realize that the Queen isn’t as racist as the typical Brexit/Trump loving tabloid reader, although her husband might be. Her Majesty has had very close relationships with many leaders of African countries. She was very fond of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The Queen doesn’t stoop to dog whistles.
Oh lordy! haha at least there’s a counter-narrative out there now!
LOL! Thank you! This bullsh*t Sun article managed to get 450 “opinions” over some re-worked #mypalacesource gossip. I couldn’t even get past the first 10 or so comments before I gave up and just went to the bottom of the thread hoping sanity would prevail. This rash of lame tabloid articles is just chaff, blown out of the press’ (and maybe KP’s) figurative azz to distract, deflect and get clicks since Meghan isn’t out and about making “news”. So, nothing new here. The British media is good at blowing chaff; the Brits invented it (you veterans know what I mean):
“The first and simplest of these countermeasures, devised by the British, was window, called chaff by the Americans. Chaff consisted of metallic strips that reflected radar waves and produced strong returns on viewing scopes. Clouds of chaff drifting slowly earthward could mislead radar operators or screen attackers from detection and tracking.”
So there’s a pecking order when it comes to who can wear what from a vast collection of royal jewels in the royal vault but it’s Meghan who needs a talking to about her lavish baby shower paid for by her friends.
Next time someone goes on and on about Meghan needing to mind the optics, I’m going say: but the Royal Jewels!
Once again the royal family can stop this stupid story in its tracks but it remains open season on Meghan from the cruel British press.
I’m so over it all.
The thing with all of these tabloids is that they take otherwise exceptionally ordinary circumstances and discussions within the RF as they pertain to Meghan, and then rephrase them so that they sound exceptionally awful, with the intention of portraying Meghan in a really bad light.
They’ve done this with a bunch of other instances as well. The original tiara story where Meghan supposedly wanted Eugenie’s tiara was rewritten to make it seem like she’d pitched a fit, even though it was more likely that she saw it, liked it, but was told that Eugenie wanted to wear it as well and so decided not to go for it. Then the story yesterday about how the palace suits had had “words” with Meghan about the baby shower. This could have just been a normal discussion about the press coverage regarding the baby shower, and how the British might have viewed it. The tabloids retrofitted that to make it seem like Meghan had to be put in her place.
And now this. Look, the fact of the matter is that there is absolutely a hierarchy regarding who’s allowed to wear which jewels. If you follow royal fashion closely, or are in any way interested in the history of royal jewelry, you’d know this. Kate herself started off with very low key pieces like the Cartier Halo tiara, and the Lotus tiara, which were loaned to her and had originally belonged to Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother. She gradually got access to more stuff as her role expanded over the years. Camilla has access to some more of the big ticket items, which used to belong to the Queen Mother, but that’s because she’s the wife of the heir and in a more prominent role. And the Queen herself has some jewelry that she uses exclusively, that she doesn’t loan out.
So yeah, it makes perfect sense that Meghan isn’t going to be jumping the gun with what she’s wearing right from the beginning. It makes perfect sense that there isn’t going to be a great deal of sharing and overlap between what each lady wears in the family. It makes sense that the more senior you are, the more you might have access to. But the way the tabs are writing about it, you’d think Meghan wants to get her hands on the crown jewels, and the Queen has had to barricade her from the vault or something. It’s just another tactic to make her seem greedy or like she’s punching above her weight, and it’s just plain gross at this point.
Also wanted to add–no one has unfettered access to the royal collection jewelry except for the Queen. The way this article is written makes it seem like everyone can reach their hand in and take whatever, and Meghan had to be stopped. That’s not true. The Queen and her staffers have always had control over the royal collection jewelry, and they only loan it out per their discretion. There was never any access on anyone’s part that had to be “cut off.” Ffs.
So the Sun hit piece got a fall back huh? This story made the queen look bad and KP cooked it up.
I do not believe this storyline at all. I think it is the Queen’s discretion to impart certain pieces to specific individuals in keeping with their duties and that is all there is. On another note, I have wondered what happened to the tiara that Fergie wore on her wedding day?
About Fergies tiara this excellent website has the story . Apparently Fergie kept it as she has worn it at parties since her divorce. It was predicted Eugenie would wear it as her own bridal tiara but of course she did not. Maybe Beatrice will wear it if she gets married.
http://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2018/05/the-york-diamond-tiara.html
This plus the past weeks/months of this anti Meghan agenda of making her look bad is really disturbing. There seems to be a goal of causing her stress. What kind of people willingly do this to a pregnant woman? If there is truth to any of these rumors, she knows it’s coming from relatives or staff who are essentially trying to harm her child by putting her in distress. It’s quite sad to watch.
Do u think when harry warned meg how tough aspects of being married to him would be that either of them imagined she’d be subjected to this much badmouthing?
Yeah, I see William all over this. I know some commenters said Andrew, and he definitely seems like sour grapes, but why would he want to distract from his Jeffrey Epstein connections when so far no more has come of it? Why waste your ammo before the battle, so to speak? Whereas the news of William cheating is only just now breaking widely. And while *we* can see that William and Kate end up looking petty and just as bad as Harry and Meghan are alleged to be, I think that William really thinks his ish don’t stink and he cannot see that he looks bad in these invented stories. This is all Willy.
Storm in a tiara…….QEII is the stingiest monarch out there when it comes to lending her jewels and they are HER jewels she owns them personally. The State Jewels (crown septre etc) are never loaned out anyway.
Other royal houses especially the Dutch and Spanish under Beatrix and Queen Sophia let practically all close relatives wear numerous royal pieces , not so Elizabeth, Margarethe of Denmark is her close second in jewel possessiveness.
I think Meghan falls into the same category as Fergie in the Queens mind , Sarah never got to wear any of the Queens jewels, she was given her own pieces but never important loaners. Dss Sofie has a few loan pieces in aquamarine (including a rather sorry tiara made out of brooches) , Anne’s jewels are her own , the only exception being her wedding tiara , Anne’s Greek key tiara worn by Zara at her wedding is believed to have been given to her by the Queen (not on loan). Camilla’s jewels belong to Charles’ not the Queen (inherited from the Queen Mum) , Kate has worn quite a few ‘royal pieces’ much as Diana did for special royal events.
However Meghan will not be given equal jewel billing with Kate by the Queen simply because Kate will one day be the owner (through William) of the pieces. It pretty much looks like Kate =Diana and Meghan = Fergie re the Queen’s Jewelery ….. it remains to be seen.
I don’t believe the Queen banned her from wearing her jewels more likely she simply has declined to offer them at the moment. Meghan WILL wear a tiara when she attends something like a state banquet, opening of parliament, London Lord Mayor’s dinner or the annual Ambassadors dinner at Buck Palace.
If this story is half way true she may be given her own tiara like Fergie because she will eventually need one. If the story is not true Meghan will probably get less imposing pieces to wear so as not to take the focus off William and Kate at ‘crown’ events. Most likely her wedding tiara.
Now having said that it will be interesting to see just how quickly Meghan gets an invite to a state dinner, it not a forgone conclusion that she will attend the next one or even the next four. Kate didn’t appeared at her first state dinner for almost 5years after her marriage.
State Dinners are a political mine field, seated next to an important foreign minister who does not have English as a first language, the slightest off the cuff remark could be taken as a diplomatic insult, when you can be trusted to follow the rules and keep to small talk with no opinions expressed no matter how much you have to bite your tongue an invitation is extended.
They’re just mad that M&H are sooooo much more appealing 😉
Why do most of the people in this thread look at Megan as an angel and everyone else who doesn’t support what she does as a villain? The Queen is bad, Will and Kate are jealous, the royal courtiers and staff are lazy.. racist etc etc etc. I don’t think she is a bad person but I don’t think she’s an angel either. She’s just human just like any of us and none of us are perfect. What did she expect once she married into the royal family? That is why women like Chelsea Davy did not want to marry him. Just because someone doesn’t agree with your opinion it doesn’t mean they are racist. btw, I am a black woman
I dont usually comment on these threads – coz you automatically end up getting called out. But I agree with you – no one is perfect. And honestly none of these royals are really working- so I dont get the fuss over a few jewels.
I’ll show myself out…
Really when you get down to it, quite a bit of this mess is Diana’a fault because she TOTALLY changed the public’s expectations on how the BRF should conduct themselves. Think about it; How many people REALLY followed the BRF before Diana? Think about it; How many copies of the Daily Fail did the BRF actually sell before Diana? I am not saying that Diana was evil or anything along this line but, did we, the commentariat, have interest in the BRF before Diana? I know I did not have an interest.
Because they see Meghan working hard as a goodwill ambassador for the BRF, raising awareness and funds for worthy causes, only to be continually attacked in an ongoing vicious gossip campaign for being ‘difficult’ and ‘demanding’. The stories actually say she needs to ‘be put in her place’, and you don’t see a problem with that?? People complained that her wedding dress was too modest and plain, yet we’re to believe she threw a hissy fit because she couldn’t drape herself in the jewels she wanted? Puh-leeze.
The BRF is an archaic institution. Once they claimed to have been divinely appointed and so did not need to serve a useful purpose. Do you see anyone buying the idea that Will was divinely appointed?
People Mag and Vanity Fair have already debunked the story. 😆 some people have so much invested in Meghan being excluded. It’s sad but also hilarious when they get undermined!
Neither people nor vanity fair debunked it. The royal collection is always dolled out at the discretion of the reigning monarch, Lizzy decides who gets what and she is a stickler for hierarchy and precedence. Meghans wedding tiara will likely be the tiara that she wears for state banquets and other such white tie events. She is not the future consort and thus is treated accordingly, when Charles is king and he decides how the jewellery is dolled out then she may gain access to more options but until such time it is what it is. She has access to Harry’s portion of Diana’s jewellery that he inherited when she died and that is the jewellery that she has been wearing other than her wedding tiara she has worn no other pieces from the royal collection that is a fact. The monarchy only survives so long as tradition is maintained and certain air of mystery lingers they are not democratically elected, I can’t stand Therese May but at least at the next election I get to vote her out. I don’t get to choose my monarch I don’t want virtue signalling right on idiots I want them to shut up and get on with it for the position they inherit they get unimaginable privilege. Behave accordingly and do it in private. Otherwise viva Le revolution.
Excellent point. The Windsor’s need to sit down, shut up and act like real royals.
Well I’ll admit it, I’m a gauche american. And the crown needs to give our girl meghan a tiara as a push present and a thank you for being non waity.
Anything TRF would be doing to “punish” or ostracize Meghan, they would be doing to Harry as well. Does anyone really believe that there isn’t one thing Queen Elizabeth II wouldn’t do for Prince Harry? Why would they humiliate him like that?
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